


Ghostly Encounters

by ncsupnatfan



Series: Lark Series [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Family, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-09-28 01:26:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 37,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17173214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ncsupnatfan/pseuds/ncsupnatfan
Summary: This is my third story with Lark and the Winchesters.  It's four months since the jinn sent Lark into a dream world and she is finally ready to see them again.  Lark finds a hunt that's more than she can handle and calls on the brothers for help.   A hotel is being overrun with spirits and they must find who's behind it and stop them and return the spirits to Limbo.





	1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello again and welcome to another Lark story. I hope you are enjoying this character I have been developing in several other stories. I hope you will decide to come along for the journey. This one is picking up right after Lost In My Dreams and thank you Trucklady53 for the idea. Enjoy and would love to know your thoughts, please comment. NC

 

The sun was starting to set and dust was chasing away the day as Lark drove down the lonely highway. She was heading for Sioux Falls but before stopping at Bobby's she was going to call to be sure he didn't have company. It had been almost five months since she was sent into a dream world by a Djinn she was tracking and she had been flying under the radar trying to avoid the Winchesters and everyone else until she came to terms with everything. When she left Bobby's that day she had drove around aimlessly for a number of days until finally settling at a hunter friend's cabin to get her head back in the game. The place was isolated and she spent some time hiking, meditating, training and sorting through the memories from the dream world. She came to terms with seeing her dead parents alive and actually spending time with them. Supposedly she had been living with Sam for a number of years and the intimacy that entailed. What really left her puzzled was she never learned what had happened between her and Dean. It just wasn’t there in her memories from the dream world and she could only guess at the reasons. She was embarrassed about being with Sam in the dream world because if she really had to choose one of the brothers it would be the older one not the younger. From their first meeting, she could feel the attraction toward him. This puzzled her why it happened that way, but she remembered the real Sam telling her it wouldn‘t all be good times. Lark allowed herself to grieve for the loss of her parents all over again, then worked on boxing up those emotions to let herself move forward. She knew the dream world was not real, no matter how much it seemed to be, but she had lived it in her mind and that was enough. She had stayed at the cabin nearly a month before deciding it was time to get back in the hunt. She found several hunts that she took care of and helped a couple of other hunters with theirs cases. She needed a place to crash for a couple of days to let her bruised and sore body heal after this last hunt and hoped to stay with Bobby since she was nearby.

"H'llo." Bobby said answering his cell. He didn't recognize the number and wondered how this person got his personal cell number. "Who is this and how‘d you get the number?"

"Hi Bobby, its Lark." she greeted him trying not to sound too nervous.

"It's 'bout damn time you called me lass." Bobby fussed at her. "Was yer fingers broken or evidently ya didn’t lose my number? I thought I taught ya better 'an that."

"I'm sorry Bobby." she said guiltily. "I didn't mean to worry you, honestly I didn't. I didn‘t have cell service where I stayed and I started back hunting and I honestly didn‘t think about it and I wasn‘t sure you‘d want to hear from me..." 

"‘Course I wanted to know if ya were okay.” he growled back at her. “Well don't let it ha’pen again ya hear me or I'll jerk a knot in yer ass. Where are you?"

"That's why I was calling, you don't have company do you?" she asked cautiously trying no to be too obvious.

"Naw, the boys are working a job in Kentucky, should be there a couple more days at least. They usually call when they're heading my way to make sure I'm home."

"Mind if I crash for a day or two at your place. My last hunt didn't go quite like it was supposed to. Gotta a little banged up."

"You know ya don't have to ask, yer're always welcome here. I told ya think of my place as your home too. Now get on over here."

"Thanks Bobby I owe you big time. I'm less than an hour away, I'll see you shortly." she said with a sigh knowing she was going have to face the brothers eventually and clear the air. Lark knew how she left it with the guys was not all that good. There were questions left unanswered that they deserved an answer to, and some she would answer but others, well...They would just have to remain questions with no answers.

"I'll leave the porch light on an’ have some coffee ready."

"Don’t go to any trouble for me. I'll see you in a few." Lark said ending the call and putting the truck back on the road toward Bobby's. It would be nice to be in a familiar place even if it was only for a few days. 

spn

Pulling up to the house brought a sense of comfort and peace to Lark as she sat in the truck for a moment just looking to the front porch where Bobby, true to his word, had left the light on for her. She eased carefully out of the truck and went around to the back for her bag, being careful of her injuries. She locked the truck and headed for the front door to knock and waited for Bobby to answer.

"C'mon in lass it's good to see you." Bobby greeted her when he opened the door. "You made good time getting here."

"Good to see you too Bobby, thanks for letting me crash here." she replied smiling warmly to the older hunter as he gave her a brief hug pulling her inside.

"Got coffee in the kitchen and I heated some supper for you." 

"You didn't have to do that Bobby, I could've made do with whatever‘s in the fridge." 

"Ain't no trouble for ya. Now get in here an' sit yerself down." Bobby told her steering her to the kitchen after she dropped her bag at the stairs. He pulled a chair out from the table for her to sit down and went to the stove to pull a plate from the oven and pour a cup of coffee for her. "Here ya go, now eat up but be careful the plate is a little hot." he told her noticing she was favoring her left side and grimaced as she moved. “How bad ya injured? Do ya need some pain killers?”

"No I’m good, took some about four hours ago and its minor stuff, nothing to worry ‘bout.” she replied. “Man, I've missed this." she mumbled blowing across the rim of the cup before sipping a small amount. She picked up a fork to begin eating off the plate. "Not bad Bobby, new recipe?" 

"You can thank Sam, thought I wasn't eatin’ right an’ made up some meals he froze for me. I swear that boy has too much time on his hands sometimes."

"Well thank you Sam." she said saluting the air in front of her. "So...How are the brothers doing?"

"You know how it is with hunters, always looking for the next hunt or laying low so they can heal from a previous hunt. They always asked 'bout you when they stop by or talk to me by phone." he said staring hard at her. "You ready to see them again?" 

"Yeah, it's time." Lark nodded. “Can’t dodge them forever, especially in our line of work. I kind of liked their backup.”

"Good to hear that, thought I was gonna have to get rough with ya." 

"No, I've accepted what happened and what I had to do. I've finally put it to rest and can move on now."

"Well I‘m just glad ya finally came back around. I got an early run in the morning so I'm heading for bed. Just make yerself at home you know where things are. I won't be back 'til mid afternoon."

"Alright, I look forward to a little down time. Good night Bobby."

"’night lass." he said before heading off to his bedroom on the first floor leaving her alone in the kitchen.

Lark finished the food and took her dishes to the sink to wash and put away. She found a bottle of water in the fridge to take with her and headed upstairs. She saw Bobby had put fresh sheets on the bed in the spare room she used and was grateful. Lark sat her duffle down and rummaged around for some sleep clothes deciding she might feel better after a hot shower.

spn

The hot water hit her bruised body and Lark winced in pain at first, drawing in a deep breath as she stood under the spray letting it loosen her stiff and bruised muscles and joints. She pushed her hair back out of her face as the water washed over it. Taking her shampoo, she washed her hair and then soaped down her body carefully cleansing the scraps she had on her legs and back to be sure they were clean. Once she was done and towel dried herself, Lark stepped from the tub and looked in her bathroom bag for the salve she had made to go on her scraps and bruises. Lark had perfected this mixture over the years making it very useful for this type of injuries. She had trained herself in first aid by reading, online research and taking a number of day classes on the subject. She could treat just about any injury that didn't involve major surgery. Lark had set up two kits for herself, one for minor first aid and another, her surgical kit, for the more serious injuries that needed stitches or worse. After taking a few pain pills, she headed for bed thinking it never felt so good to be in familiar surroundings again and not having to worry about other guests making noises or having a check out time. She settled into the mattress and listened to the familiar sounds of the house settling around her as she let her mind drift away into sleep.

spn

The next two days went by faster than Lark could imagine. She slept in and was lazy the first day at Bobby's doing some laundry for both of them and cleaning out the fridge. They threw together leftovers for supper that night and talked about hunts and any new information that would be useful for both of them. The next day Lark made a run into town to restock Bobby's supplies to pay him back for letting her stay there. She cleaned the kitchen and living room and made a nice casserole with a salad for their supper. Bobby was delighted to have someone else cooking and enjoyed the meal and company immensely. He insisted that she didn’t have to do all that, but that didn’t stop her. They watched a little television that night before heading on to bed. 

The next morning dawned cool and dry as Bobby and Lark ate breakfast before heading out to the garage to work on some cars. Bobby found she knew as much about cars as she did about hunting. He took advantage of that and let her help him work on the cars he had in the garage, getting them ready for be picked up. His garage gave him another resource for income along with the salvage business since hunting didn’t pay for itself. They had been out in the garage all morning working and he paused to look over at the young woman who had found a special place in his heart and watched her put in a water pump. She had streaks of grease down one cheek and sprigs of hair hung from the pony tail she had carelessly pulled up out of the way. She was the third kid that he adopted over the years, the two Winchester brothers being the first. They may not be related by blood, but that didn’t mean they weren’t family. Those three young hunters were the closest thing to family that he had and he did his best to look after them. 

“You ‘bout done over there?” Bobby called to her as he wiped his hands on a rag.

“Give me five more minutes and I should have her running.” Lark answered back looking over at him with a smile.

“I wanna thank you lass for your help on these cars. Why don’t we clean up and go have a late lunch in town my treat for payment?”

“Awe Bobby, you know I don’t expect any pay. Hell you’re letting me stay in your home for free. This is the least I can do for you.” 

“I’ll not take no for an answer we‘re going. Besides, I’ve enjoyed the company and we deserve a break.”

“Oh alright you talked me into it.” she said giving him a sweet smile. “It’ll give me a chance to go to the thrift store and used bookstore while we’re in town.”

“Sounds good to me, I got some westerns to trade at the bookstore anyway.” 

“Alright, I’m done.” she said straightening up and wiping her hands on the butt of her coveralls. “I’m gonna hit the shower and I’ll be ready in say thirty-forty minutes.”

“Right behind ya lass. I’ll be ready.” Bobby told her following her toward the house. He watched her walking in front of him and thought to himself, just by looking at her you would never guess she was a top notch hunter. Lark had turned into one of the best in his mind, right up there with his boys for that matter. He was glad she finally decided to come home and had come to terms with what happened to her.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you to all who decided to try out the story and I hope you will think it is worth the read. So Lark is going to meet the brothers not in the way she planned. Commentss are always welcome. NC

 

After lunch Bobby and Lark went to the thrift store where she picked up some new used clothes and the used bookstore where they both found some books. Since they had a late lunch, neither was hungry when dinnertime rolled around. Lark fixed some fruit, cheese and crackers for them to snack on instead of a full meal. Lark sat out on the deck reading until it got too dark to see. They found an old movie to watch on one of the few channels Bobby got, but he gave it up halfway through the movie leaving Lark alone to finish watching it. She almost made it to the end, but fell asleep on the couch as the television played in the background. It was almost two am when frantic pounding at the front door had Lark bounding off the couch looking around for what caused the noise. Bobby came running out of his bedroom armed when the pounding came again and someone yelled his name from the other side of the door.

"What in blue blazes is goin' on?" he growled heading for the door with a gun ready to defend himself. He jerked the door open to find Sam supporting a bloody Dean who was barely conscious. 

"Dean's hurt Bobby." Sam gasped as he tried to get him in the door. 

"Balls! What'd you boys step in this time?" Bobby asked laying the gun aside and positioning himself on the other side of Dean to help hold him up. "C'mon son, let's get you inside."

"Holy crap guys!" Lark cried seeing the brothers and the amount of blood on their clothes. "Get him upstairs, I'll get my surgical bag." she ordered them as she raced for the stairs to get her keys for the truck. 

Bobby and Sam managed to get Dean up the stairs and into their bedroom by the time Lark was back with her kit. Sam was heaving hard trying to keep himself erect as Dean moaned in pain from the movements.

"I need towels, hot water and whiskey." she instructed sitting the surgical kit by Dean's hip. She quickly started working on getting his clothes off so she could see how serious his injuries were. Sam was on the other side of the bed helping as much as he could as Lark took control of the situation. After stripping him down to his briefs, she tossed his bloody clothes to the side and began to check the wounds Sam had field dressings on. Bobby came back with a basin of hot water, towels and a bottle of whiskey. 

"Dean, hey can you hear me?" Lark asked patting his cheeks hard enough to get his attention. Green eyes filled with pain glared back at her as he found her face. "There you are. Sam give him a little of whiskey while I get ready. Dean this is going to hurt, but I'm going to give you something for the pain. You understand me?" she asked him getting down in his line of sight as she spoke. She put on gloves and gave his body a quick once over to decide what looked the worse.

"Do it!" he grunted. He gulped the shot of whiskey Sam held to his lips and let his head fall back on the pillow as he groaned in pain from her examination of his wounds. 

"Okay the cut on his abdomen is the worse, I’ll stitch that first to stop the bleeding.” Lark said. She took out several syringes and a couple of vials of medicine. After preparing both syringes, she laid them on the nightstand ready to use. Lark pushed towels under his side and took alcohol to clean the deep gash on his abdomen. 

“Sonovabitch...” Dean moaned as his body tensed and he tried to sit up as the pain radiated through his body as Lark started cleaning the deep gash. He slurred some other swear words while he bunched the sheet in his fists to keep from knocking her away. Blackness shrouded his mind pulling him deeper into a sea of nothingness where he would feel no pain. He didn't understand the words being spoken now as his body went lax.

“Sorry but I gotta clean it. Sam keep him as still as you can.” Lark told him as she wiped the blood and wetness away while Sam pushed him back down and kept pressure on his shoulders to keep him down until he saw Dean had passed out. She ran her hands gently over his body seeing some nasty bruises but it didn’t look like there were any broken bones. “I’m gonna give you a couple of shots now, it should help with the pain.” 

"He's not hearing you, he's out of it now." Sam sighed letting go and wincing as he sat back trying to hide his discomfort. He knew how his brother felt. Right now all Sam wanted to do was slap a bandage on the wounds bleeding and curl up somewhere and pass out.

spn

Lark injected Dean with strong pain meds and then used Lidocaine around the wound to deaden the area that needed stitching. She took sutures and began to sew the wound together in close tight stitches. Sam sat beside Dean, opposite Lark, holding onto to him to be sure he stayed still. He watched Lark working efficiently and quickly to sew up his wounds. After the abdomen was done, she stitched the lacerations on his arm and upper chest and put butterflies on several shallow stab wounds on his legs. She put her special salve over them before covering each with pads and taping them in place. She stopped and surveyed her handiwork being sure she didn't miss anything. 

“I’m gonna put some of my special lotion on these bruises so they won’t be so bad.” she said stripping off the bloodied gloves before dipping her fingers into the container and began to massage it into the spots where the bruising was the worse. Once she was done, she covered him with the sheet and turned to the others.

"It would help if he had a blood transfusion to replace some of what he's lost." 

"I can give him some." Sam said wavering slightly as he tried to stand still.

"You're too weak. Look, I'll give him my blood, I'm a universal donor." Lark told him. "But first..."

“You did good lass.” Bobby said as she turned to look at Sam.

“Okay, let’s see how bad your injuries are.” she told Sam as she put on clean gloves.

“I’m fine; I can take care of them.” Sam said weariness showing in his voice as he did his best to act okay and stand a little talker.

“Don’t give me that, I know all that blood isn’t Dean’s, so let me see or do you need Bobby to help you?” she asked glaring at him in defiance and stubbornness waiting for him to obey. “Don’t make me ask again.” 

“I'd do as the lass says son, the alternative might not be pretty.” Bobby told Sam in a tone that left no room for argument. 

“Fine.” he grumbled taking off his outer shirt and struggled to get his tee shirt off until Bobby grabbed the hem and got it over his head. He tossed it with the rest of the bloody clothes to be dealt with later.

Lark stepped to him and guided him to his bed to sit down so she could look at the gash on his shoulder, a shallow stab wound on his stomach and a cut on his arm. She wiped them with an alcohol soaked cloth to get the blood off and see how deep they were. He was lucky his injuries weren’t as bad as Dean's. 

“You’re lucky, I’ll have them stitched up in no time.” she told him getting a syringe ready to deaden the area first. “You guys must of put up a good fight.” she said studying several patches of skin that was bruising across his stomach and turned his head to look at a bruise starting to form across his jaw line. 

“Dean going to be okay?” Sam asked looking over at his brother with concern.

“Yes, he’ll need to take it easy for a couple of weeks or so. Don’t want him tearing out my handiwork and that goes for you too.” 

“What happened Sam?” Bobby asked as he handed Lark more clean gauze.

“We got jumped by two ghouls. Seems a hunter killed their father and they wanted revenge on any hunters they could find.” Sam explained as he winced when Lark injected him. 

“Did you get them?” 

“Yes, but not before they did that to Dean. He put up more of a fight; I got knocked out for a few minutes so they started with him. I should of been faster.”

“Hey! You can’t blame yourself for Dean’s injuries. It could very well have been you instead of him. So just stop that train of thought.” Bobby chastised him. 

“This may pinch, just hold still.” Lark told him as she began to stitch the worse of his injuries. The others only needed dressed with butterfly bandages and covered with pads. 

Sam could feel the tugging of his skin as Lark quickly stitched the gash. He tried to keep his breathing even as he fought the exhaustion trying to drag him down. His body slumped slightly forward while he waited patiently for Lark to finish. She was carefully massaging lotion into the bruises on his stomach and he clenched his jaw to hold in the moan that wanted to escape. He could feel the gentleness of her touch and it help to drain the tension from his body. He could feel a slight warmth under her finger tips and wondered what was in this concoction of hers. His eyes lids refused to obey as they slipped closed on their own.

"Sam here take these and go on to the other bedroom and lay down before you fall down." Lark told him holding out some pain meds for him. 

"No, no Dean might..." Sam started but was stopped by Lark butting in.

"Dean is fine, I'll be right here in case he needs something. You need to go rest and you won't do that in here. Now take these and go lay down." she insisted putting the pills in his hand and holding a bottle of water out to him.

"She's right Sam; you're dead on your feet. I'm sure Lark can take care of Dean and she'll wake you if needed." Bobby added supporting Lark's decision. "Take the meds and I'll help you to the bedroom."

"You'll come get me?" Sam asked Lark.

"Of course, you know I will." she answered patting his arm. "Try to get some rest. Bobby if you'll come back and help me, I'll get an IV line ready in Dean's arm." 

"Sure thing lass." 

"Alright." he sighed heaving himself from his bed stumbling slightly as he got his balance and let Bobby steady him and guide him out of the room. 

spn

Bobby returned to see Lark had a line in Dean's arm and had her shirt sleeve up and was preparing it so Bobby could put in the line. She had a sterile bag ready to give blood and then would attach it to Dean for the transfusion. She hoped giving him blood would speed up his healing.

"You ready?" Bobby asked as he gloved up and took the needle, swabbing her arm before inserting it. 

Lark pumped her fist a couple of times and watched the blood quickly fill the line and run into the bag hanging on the seat of the chair. She took several deep breaths trying to relax and let gravity do its thing.

"I'll go get ya some juice lass and you be careful you don't give too much." Bobby cautioned her as he went to get the juice.

"I won't." she replied glancing down at the bag as it filled with her blood. By the time Bobby was back, the bag was full and Lark removed the needle and taped a folded piece of gauze over the site to stop the bleeding. She took the bag and quickly connected the line to Dean's cannula opening the flow allowing it to run into Dean's arm. She checked that everything was okay before sitting down on the bed and sipping her juice. 

"If you don't need me for anything else, I'm heading to bed." Bobby told her once he saw things were under control.

"I'm good, just gonna keep an eye on the transfusion and then settle down for the night." Lark answered giving him a shoo with her hand. "Go get some rest."

spn

After checking Dean to be sure he was doing okay and not running a fever, Lark pulled a desk chair up against his bed, adjusted it to where it was almost level with it and let her body drop onto the seat. She kicked off her shoes and settled her feet on the side of the bed beside Dean's legs. Lark laid an arm across Dean's chest so she would know if he needed her as she tried to wind down from the adrenaline rush. Her eyes were heavy as she concentrated on feeling Dean's chest rise and fall in shallow breaths. She allowed herself to lightly doze, ever aware of Dean's slightest movement. Lark wouldn't let herself sleep deeply since she needed to keep an eye on the transfusion bag and when it emptied, she removed the line from his arm and tossed the bag noticing that Dean's color had improved somewhat now and knew the transfusion had helped. She checked his vitals and added a blanket over the sheet thinking he seemed cool. Once she was satisfied, Lark stretched out on the other bed and pulled a blanket over her body as she settled down to sleep. Even in sleep, she remained alert to Dean's movements and his needs.

spn

Several hours later as dawn was almost on the horizon, Lark was awaken by movement and sounds from the other bed. She sat up and saw Dean was struggling with some unknown assailant as he threw punches into the air. Dean started coming to as the shot wore off and he struggled when he felt the light pressure of something on his chest. The last he really remembered was the ghouls capturing him and Sam and the pain from their torture. A voice spoke to him from far away, but he couldn’t understand what was being said. He could feel the pain course through his body when he tried to move and a groan escaped from between his lips.

“Hey Dean...” Lark started sitting down beside him when suddenly Dean wadded the front of her tee shirt tightly into one hand and jerked her toward him, his other hand going around her throat. Even in his weakened state, he was still a formable foe and it took Lark using both her hands to pry his hand from her throat. “Stop it Dean!” she hissed at him. “You’re safe, stop struggling you’ll rip out the stitches I did. It’s me, Lark! Look at me Dean.” She tried to pull away but he held her tightly in place.

Not knowing who was hovering over him, Dean clutched the shirt of the person and used his other to grip their throat. He fought when hands moved to pry his hand away and hold it down. He could feel the body lying across him, holding him down and even though it hurt, he continued to fight until a voice grew louder and was one he recognized. As his mind caught up with what he saw and heard, his struggling stopped and he tried to focus on the face mere inches from his. Dean was breathing hard and it hurt with each intake he drew in. 

“That’s it Dean, calm down. You’re safe now.” Lark whispered gently to him when she saw his face soften and he blinked fast, trying to clear his mind.

“S’mmy?” Dean questioned hoarsely when he saw the other bed was empty.

“He’s okay; his injuries were not as bad as yours. I sent him to the other bedroom so he could rest.” Lark assured rubbing a hand up his arm.

“Is ev’ythin’... o...kay?” Sam asked yawning and stumbling sleepily into the room. He pulled up short when he saw Lark lying across Dean in what looked like an intimate moment, their faces almost touching. “Oh, sorry to interrupt.” he said starting to back up and leave thinking he walked in on something. 

“It’s okay Sam; Dean woke up and thought he was still in the hands of the ghouls. I had to keep him from tearing out those stitches I put in.” Lark called to him as she turned her head to look his way. “Dean, you can let go now.” she told him patting at the hand that was still clutching the front of her shirt tightly. 

“Yeah, s’ry.” Dean answered as he forced his hand to open and release Lark’s shirt. 

“You okay bro?” Sam asked him once he saw Dean was alert.

“I’m f’ne.” he mumbled to Sam, closing his eyes and grimacing as he tried to move his aching body.

Lark leaned backwards away from Dean and pulled on her shirt to straighten it before looking back at him. 

“Let me check those injuries to be sure you didn’t pop a stitch.” she told him moving to take off each pad and check his stitches. She stood so she could pull the sheet down and look at the last one on his abdomen and legs; satisfied they were intact and didn’t need tending. “Good, they’re okay. Probably wouldn't hurt to take some pain meds." she said reaching for a bottle sitting on the nightstand. She shook a couple into her hand and held them out for Dean to take along with a bottle of water. Sam moved to the other side of the bed and helped Dean sit up enough to take the meds and drink some water. He let him have several long swallows before taking it from him. "Why don’t you relax and try to get some more rest, those pills should kick in shortly. They'll make you sleepy. You too Sam. I think you both need to rest.” 

“She’s right, try and get some rest bro.” Sam told Dean patting his leg gently. “You probably need some rest too Lark, you’ve been up longer than us.”

“Guess a couple of hours wouldn’t hurt. Why don’t you take your bed back and I’ll head on down to mine. He should be okay now, but if you need me come and get me.” she told him as she stood up from the bed and straightened the covers back over Dean. 

“Thanks for all you did.” Sam told her giving a brief smile. “See ya in the mornin’.”

“Well technically it is morning, but I get it.” she laughed lightly before stepping from the room. She could feel both brothers’ gaze following her out of the room and sighed letting the weariness make her body droop once she was out of their sight. Her bed was going to feel good as she stretched trying to get the stiffness out of her back from sitting in the desk chair. Even thought she didn’t feel any tension between her and the brothers, she knew she needed to talk to them before she left again. Last time Lark knew it wasn’t the best of circumstances, but she got the feeling Dean understood, but wasn't sure about Sam. She let her body melt into the mattress and drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly trying to cleanse her mind and relax so she could let the darkness sweep her away. 

spn

"You need anything before I lay down?" Sam asked his brother.

"I'm good." Dean mumbled as his mind started shutting down again and the meds started kicking in.

"She seems good." Sam mentioned looking back toward the door that Lark had disappeared into. "She doctored you like a pro, good thing she was here."

"G'od." Dean grunted barely able to stay awake now.

"Get some rest bro, maybe she'll stay a little longer this time." he said then noticing Dean was already out of it and switched off the light between their beds. "Night." he whispered before slipping into his bed and forcing his mind to shut down for a while. His thoughts wondered to Lark and what he remembered from their last encounter. He hoped she had been able to put the dream world to rest and that they could be friends again without any awkward feelings. He let himself drift off to sleep listening to the familiar creaks and groans of the house as it settled around him letting it lull him deeper into sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

The rays of sunlight were peeking around the curtains in the brother's bedroom as Sam rolled over and grunted when he moved the wrong way. He squinted his eyes against the morning light and rubbed the sleep from them before carefully pushing himself to a sitting position and then swinging his legs off the bed. He sat there a moment letting the lightheadedness pass before attempting to stand. Sam moved to the other bed and checked on his brother to see he was still sleeping. He looked at the clock and figured the pain meds would keep him out a little while longer and decided to see if anyone else was up. After finding some clean clothes, he went to the bathroom to clean up and change before heading down.

The aroma of fresh coffee caught his attention as he made his way toward the kitchen. Sam found Lark sitting at the table tapping quickly on her laptop, to pause when he ambled on in.

"Good morning, how are you feeling?" Lark asked him closing her laptop before he saw what she was doing. 

"Sore, stiff, but not bad." he replied moving to the coffee pot to pour a cup. He doctored it and came over to the table to sit beside her. "That cream you put on my bruises really took away most of the pain. I'll have to buy some from you."

"I don't sell to people who are my friends." she told him. "I think I have an extra bottle in my pack you can have." 

"Thanks, but can't I give you something for it? It's only fair; you had to buy the stuff that you make it from." 

"Actually a lot of it is natural. Tell you what; you can come with me some time to help gather some ingredients I use. The forest can provide much more than most think."

"Deal, I'd like that." Sam nodded not sure what to talk about next.

"Dean still asleep?" 

"Yes, I think the pain meds are helping with that." 

"How 'bout some breakfast? Bobby headed out earlier, he got a towing job."

"Don't go to any trouble, I can find something." Sam told her.

"It's no trouble, gotta fix me something. I'll just add a little extra." she said getting up to head for the fridge.

Sam sipped his coffee and watched Lark move around the kitchen, humming to herself as she cooked. He watched her chop up some ham, onions, mushrooms and spinach that was sitting beside the stove and turned to crack some eggs into a bowl, adding a little water, salt and pepper and a couple of other spices. She poured the mixture into a hot pan letting it cook some before adding the chopped items. She let it cook some more before flipping it in half to make an omelette. Once it was cooked to her liking, she slid it to a plate and went to the fridge for the fresh fruit she had bought a couple days ago. 

“Here you go, dig in while it’s hot.” she said sitting the plate in front of Sam along with the fruit. “You go ahead and start; I’ll have mine done in a jiff.” 

Sam looked down at the omelette and couldn’t stop his mouth from watering. He took a fork and cut off a piece to transfer to his mouth. He closed his eyes as he chewed, savoring the delicious taste of it. He didn't know what she did, but he never got his eggs to taste like this.

“Lark, this is amazing.” he praised her. 

“Why thank you kind sir.” Lark responded as she finished her omelette and brought it to the table. She moved her laptop and sat down beside Sam to eat. She started eating her food and had to admit it did taste pretty good.

They ate in silence, both enjoying their meal. Lark glanced sideways at Sam noticing he was trying not to stare at her as she ate. She knew he probably had questions about their last encounter, but was being gracious enough not to ask them. She was almost finished with her food when she finally spoke to him.

“I wanted to apologize for the way things ended last time.” she said looking up into Sam’s kind eyes. “I had too much to deal with and needed to sort things out. I hope Dean told you thank you for me.”

“He did.” Sam nodded, knowing not to press Lark and to let her tell him her way if she wanted to. He still could not believe how much alike Dean and her were in so many aspects. He hated to admit it, but they would make the perfect couple. 

“Good, I do appreciate what you did to get me out of there and I know you didn’t understand what was going on in there.” she stated, trying to choose her words carefully. “The Djinn...he created me a world where my parents were alive and well.” she continued looking down at her plate and blinking back the tears. “It was like being given a second chance with them. I got to have meals with them, celebrate an anniversary...I even helped Dad wash the cars and weeded Mom's flower beds.” she smiled and laughed remembering the memories. "Who wouldn't want to have more time with a loved one?"

“Lark you don’t owe me an explanation. I know this is painful for you.” Sam said gently, feeling her pain as she remembered. He thought about Dean’s dealings with a Djinn and knew how it could rack havoc to a person’s mind.

“Yes I do Sam.” she said giving him a kind look for his understanding. “I think you know you and Dean were there too. There are things I don’t know and can’t tell you, but you were a teacher and...And we were living together, had been for a number of years...” she said letting her voice trail off as she glanced away.

“Oh.” Sam said a frown creased his forehead and a look of concern crossed his face because he knew what that implied. “Lark did the dream Sam and you...You know...Did you...?”

“What? No! No, I knew something wasn’t right even if I couldn’t remember my real life. It was as if something was out of sync or off balance. We kissed but nothing more. Hell, I even had dresses and high heels.” Lark laughed. “I wouldn’t be caught dead in those things, let alone own them. They're a joke and absolutely not my style.” Her voice turned more serious as she continued, “Something happened between Dean and me. I think we dated, but whatever happened it tore you two apart and we ended up together. It took you coming into the dream for me to remember who I really was and figure out how to get out. You told me that the dream was not all perfect. You said there was a darkness there too. I saw the darkness when I found my true self. My grandparents were dead and something bad must of happened to me from everyone's actions when I started questioning things and you and Dean were not speaking. It’s like you weren’t even brothers anymore. None of us were hunters and all the people we saved here, they were dead there. Even thought I knew it wasn’t real, I still felt responsible. You don’t know how much I wanted to stay and be with my parents again...” she said softly wiping at a tear that escaped her eye. “When I came back...My mind was so overloaded I couldn’t think straight and I needed some time alone to deal with it all.”

“It’s okay.” Sam told her taking one of her hands and squeezing it gently. “It wasn’t real and Dean and I are fine. Our hunts happened, so we saved lives. I‘m just glad you came back to us. For a second there I thought we had lost you and it was very upsetting. You have become a close friend and fellow hunter who I admire. I don't know what might have happened between any of us, but its fine and in the past. I'm just glad you're back.” 

Lark didn’t say anything as she pushed the last bite of her food around on the plate. She knew Sam’s words were right, but she still couldn’t shake what had happened, but had started to come to terms with it. She was letting the experience be just that, an experience, one she wouldn't forget but one that wasn't going to control what she did from now on. She would remember the good and what it felt like to see her parents again and keep the other locked away in the deepest corner of her mind. She was a survivor and a strong minded person.

“Why don’t you see if your brother is ready to wake up while I fix him some breakfast and bring it up? I want him to stay in bed at least a couple of days so his body can heal. He doesn‘t need to go any further than the bathroom and back to bed.” she finally said wanting to move on.

“That’s gonna be a tall order knowing Dean, but I’ll see what I can do.” he chuckled getting up to take his plate to the sink before heading back upstairs. 

"Oh and Sam, don't mention our conversation to Dean. I'd like to tell him myself when he's a little stronger."

"Hadn't planned on it, it's your story to tell." he nodded with a brief smile before disappearing up the stairs.

spn

A familiar voice called to him in his mind, but it sounded so far away. He knew he should answer him but he was still so tired and it was hard to pull himself out of the fog that coated his mind. He felt tapping on his cheeks and someone rubbing his arm. It seemed like it took forever but it was only a minute or two until he got his eyes partly open to stare at the fuzzy figure in his line of site. After blinking his eyes several times to clear his vision, his brother came into view. 

“Hey bro, feel like waking up?” Sam asked him when he saw his eyes on him. “Lark’s making you some breakfast and bringing it up. She wants you to stay in bed for a day or two so you can heal.” 

“Bathroom.” Dean mumbled just catching a word here and there that Sam said. Some of it registered but most of it didn’t.

“Right, here let me help.” Sam answered helping Dean to slowly sit up and get his feet to the floor. He let him sit on the side of the bed for a minute before guiding him up and toward the bathroom.

Dean could feel stitches pulling slightly with each step but he was determined to make it into the bathroom. His entire body seemed to hurt from being tossed around by the ghouls. He pushed Sam back to let him know he had it before stepping to the commode. 

“I’ll just wait in the hall.” Sam said once he saw that Dean could make it on his own, but he left the door cracked so he could hear him. He could hear soft swearing coming from the opening as his brother moved around in the bathroom and chuckled to himself knowing this was typical Dean seeing what his limits were. 

spn

Lark moved carefully up the stairs carrying a tray with scrambled eggs, oatmeal, toast and coffee balanced on it. She decided Dean needed to eat light for a couple of meals to be sure he didn’t get sick. Sam was sitting in the chair by the bed talking quietly to Dean when she stepped into the room. 

“And how’s the patient feeling today?” she asked looking Dean over for any signs of fever or infection. 

“I’m fine.” Dean growled out his answer as he tried to push himself up in the bed only to hiss in pain.

“Here, let me help.” Sam offered helping Dean move and positioning pillows so he would be more comfortable.

“Here you go; I fixed you something light to begin with to be sure your stomach can handle it.” Lark said sitting the tray on his lap and making sure it was level before letting go. 

“Thanks and thank you for fixing us up. Sam said you took control and did as good as a doctor would of.” Dean told her giving her a warm smile.

“Internet, reading and first aid courses.” Lark shrugged. “Better to be prepared for anything in our line of work.”

“You got that right, sometimes hospitals are not an option.” Sam commented. 

“Look, I’m gonna do a quick supply run for Bobby since you guys need to rest up for a week or so. You got any requests, besides pie?” 

“Give me a minute and I’ll go with you.” Sam said as he started to get up.

“I’ve got it, besides you need to look after Dean in case he needs help.” 

“I’ll be alright.” Dean insisted as he gritted his teeth to keep from moaning when he moved wrong.

"The pain meds are on the nightstand if you need to take some Dean. Try one and see how it does. You don't need to be macho and suffer so take one." 

"I'm fine." 

"Right, where have I heard that before? Oh yeah, you were bleeding out all over Bobby kitchen. Don't make me get rough with you, I could always forget the pie..." she teased.

"Okay." Dean pouted.

“You’re probably right, could you grab a crossword puzzle book for me, the harder the better.” Sam asked when he saw Dean pale slightly from repositioning himself.

“I can do that and I’ll pick up some deli meat for subs for lunch.”

“Sounds good, be careful.” 

“Always.” she nodded before heading back out to run her errand.

Once she was out of hearing range, Dean turned to Sam to ask a question. 

"She talk to you?" 

"She did, but I can't say anything, she wants to talk to you herself." Sam told him, a 'sorry bro' look on his face. 

"Guess I'll have to wait then." he sighed picking up his fork to eat some eggs. He sipped on his coffee and eyed the oatmeal, trying to decide if he wanted to sample it or not.

"Better eat it all, I'd hate to have to tell Lark you're didn't eat when she went to all that trouble fixing it." Sam cautioned him in his little brother tattle tail voice. 

"Screw you." Dean grumbled putting on his pouting face, but took a spoon of oatmeal anyway. After he swallowed, he decided it wasn't half bad and ate some more of it ignoring the grinning smirk on Sam's face.

"You want a pain pill now or after you finish?" Sam asked arching an eyebrow and daring him to say no.

"Bitch."

"Jerk." 

A/N: One brother down and one to go. Lark is getting everything out in the open so they can move on from it. I’d like to thank everyone who is taking the time to read my story and take this journey with me. I do like to know your thoughts, please comment. NC


	4. Chapter 4

After going through the store and picking up enough food for about a week, Lark headed for the check out but stopped along the way to find Sam puzzle books and snagged several car magazines for Dean. If she read him right, he was not one who liked to lay around doing nothing even if he was injured. The wait wasn’t long and Lark headed for her truck to put the bags in back before heading out. As a treat for Dean, she stopped at a bakery and picked up a couple of fresh pies hoping to tempt him with them to stay in bed and let himself heal. With that done, she headed for Bobby’s to see how the patient was doing and to see if Sam had any new injuries. 

The noise of a car engine had Sam looking up from his laptop and knew Lark must be back. He got up and headed outside to help carry in the bags.

“Hey, looks like there’s no new injuries at least.” Lark giggled as she gave Sam a once over.

“What?” Sam asked not understanding the pun as he looked down his body too.

“Well, I didn’t know if your brother might decide he was going to get up and you had to stop him.” 

“Oh...Right...No, I made him take a couple of pain pills and he’s napping right now.” Sam shrugged. 

“So...You drugged him?” Lark asked arching her eyebrows. "One would probably have been enough."

“Gotta do what you gotta do, I figured better safe than sorry.” he replied snagging several bags to take inside. "It was a precaution measure, I do know my brother."

“Be careful and don’t pick up any heavy ones, don’t need to be re-stitching you either.” she warned him picking up several bags too. "You don't think he'll figure out what you did when he's better and maybe...I don't know...Get even?"

“Yes ma’am.” Sam said hiding a smirk. "He probably won't remember anyway."

“Why don’t you start putting things up and I’ll get the rest of the bags.”

“I can handle that.” Sam agreed sitting his bags on the counter and grimaced when his stitches pulled with the movement trying to hide it from Lark. He paused for a moment to let the little stab of pain pass before moving to take items from the bag. 

“Don’t think I didn’t see that.” Lark accused him as she headed back out to the truck for the remaining bags. 

“Crap.” Sam muttered hoping he had hidden it from her. He was finding she had a mother hen streak worse than Dean in her and felt she had to take care of everyone. He was really starting to like her the more he got to know her. He still swore she was a female Dean, but would never tell Dean that.

spn

“That’s the last of it.” Sam said putting the coffee in the cabinet and turning back to Lark.

“Thanks for the help.” Lark said as she put the fresh vegetables in the drawer of the fridge. “Since you guys had a late breakfast, just let me know when you’re ready for lunch and I’ll fix it. Here‘s a couple of the hardest puzzle books for you and I got Dean a couple of car magazines he can read while in bed recouping.” 

“Really Lark, I can fend for myself. You don’t have to wait on me.” Sam insisted feeling a little guilty to have someone wait on him. He wasn't use to this where it was everyone for himself most of the time. Dean did take a hankering to cook sometimes and he went all in doing it. “Thanks for the books, they look good.”

“Hey, you're my patient until I say otherwise." she said in a stern voice a hand on her hip giving him a don't screw with me look. "You need to rest and heal too Sam and I don’t mind playing nurse maid. Gives me something to do until I leave.” 

“And when will that be? Please don’t go because of us, stay as long as you want.”

“I had planned on leaving in the next day or so anyway Sam. As long as Dean’s doing okay I’ll probably stick to that plan. I'm sure you can handle taking Dean's stitches out when they're ready.”

“Yeah done it enough over the years. Why don’t you go check on Dean?” Sam suggested knowing she wanted to talk to him alone and wanted to give her that chance. “Take him something to drink, he could probably use the fluids.”

“I got some ginger ale just for him.” she said going to the fridge and looking around until she found one. After snagging a straw from the drawer, Lark strolled for the stairs deep in thought about what she was going to say.

spn

The fuzziness in Dean’s brain didn’t want to go away as he worked on trying to make his eyes open. He grunted in discomfort when he shifted and his stitched skin protested. A blurry figure came into view by his bed and he squinted his eyes shut and blinked quickly several times trying to clear them so he could see. He felt a cool hand settle on his forehead for a few moments before being removed. Even in his groggy state, Dean knew that touch was not his brother and tried to bring up the memory of who it was.

“How ya feeling?” a female voice asked as a light weight settled at his hip on the mattress. 

“Better, just a little groggy.” Dean grunted as he ran his tongue over is lips trying to wet them.

“I brought you some ginger ale, thought it would be easy on your stomach.” Lark told him as she held the straw to his lips and pinched her lips together so she wouldn‘t laugh as he chased it for moment before getting a good hold on it.

Dean felt the straw and after a moment captured it between his lips so he could suck the cold liquid into his mouth. He relished the coldness as it coated his throat and wet his parched mouth. After several more swallows he pushed the straw out and leaned back sighing with relief.

“Thanks.” he nodded finally able to see her sitting beside him.

“Good news no fever, now let me check your wounds...” she said pulling the tape from one pad and checking for infection. Lark moved efficiently to the next and finally the abdomen and leg, inspecting each one before taping the pad back in place. “All are looking good and healing nicely. Those stitches can come out in a few more days.”

“That means I can get up.” he insisted starting to push his sore body from the bed.

“Not hardly, you keep that kester planted in that bed.” Lark ordered putting a hand on his chest to stop him from trying to get up. “Do you feel like talking for a few minutes?” she asked timidly looking down at her hands for a moment before glancing sideways at him.

Even in his weakened state, Dean understood what she was talking about. They hadn't seen or heard from her since the Djinn thing and knew this was a chance meeting for them. He adjusted his body to get more comfortable and looked at her through half closed eyes. 

“Sure, I’m not going anywhere.” he huffed with a sigh deciding it would take too much energy to argue with her.

“Well...I’ve talked to Sam about what happened to me and I need to do the same with you...” Lark started, holding her hand up for Dean to not protest when he opened his mouth to speak. “When I woke up in that dream world I didn’t know who I really was. There were some memories, but not of being a hunter or some of my previous life. My parents were alive and I got to be with them for a few days. It was wonderful. It was like being given a second chance, but there were other things that didn’t seem right but out of sync. You and Sam were there, I was with Sam....Like living with him.” she said looking to him. When he didn’t say anything she continued. “It didn’t feel right, especially when I found out you two hadn’t spoken in years. It was like you weren’t even brothers Dean. I know something happened between us, but honestly Dean, I don’t know what it was and I have no idea how I ended up with Sam. Bits and pieces of my old memory leaked through and that really confused me. My grandparents had died years before and everyone was treating me with kid gloves like I had a breakdown or something and all the people we saved were dead in that world. If Sam hadn’t come into the dream I don’t know what I would of done. To see my parents again...Oh how I wanted to stay and be with them...” she said, her voice got soft and low at the end as she got a far away look in her eyes.

“I know what that feels like...” Dean whispered as the memories of his own dealings with a Djinn haunted his mind and gave him an understanding of what Lark had gone through. “I’ve had my own dealings with a Djinn.”

“So you can understand how mixed up I was. I’m not sure why either of you guys were there, maybe because we had dealings in the past or maybe because we were hunting it together and he pulled you from my memories or why it was Sam I was with...”

“Its okay, you don’t have to explain...” Dean started feeling Lark's discomfort in talking about her experience.

“Sam should be here now, what I have to say concerns both of you.” Lark said getting up from the bed and going to the head of the stairs to call to him and ask him to come up. She headed back to the brother’s bedroom and waited for him to join them.

“Hey is something wrong?” Sam asked stepping into the room and looking from Lark to Dean and back.

“No, Dean’s doing fine. I wanted to talk to both of you about certain things.” Lark said pacing the space in the bedroom. 

“Umm..Okay.” Sam said moving to sit at the foot of Dean’s bed looking back at Lark.

“Alright, I’ll just come out with it. You guys are hot and I mean sexy hot and I’m pretty sure you could have any woman you wanted. When we first met...I have to admit I would have been happy to hook up with either one of you, but now...It’s not that I don’t have feelings for you, but they’re more brotherly and not romantic. I don’t think I could choose between you two if I wanted to, even if there were no bad feelings from either of you with my choice. I still want to be friends, have your backs if you need me and hope you will do the same for me. It’s kind of nice to have that and not feel so alone. I don’t know how you guys feel about any of this. Man! I’m so bad at this...Am I making any sense at all?” Lark questioned when she felt like she was rattling on.

“Lark, it’s fine and you know we’ll always be there for you.” Sam told her.

“Whatever your decision, we’re good with it. Know this Kid, you are family to us now and we take care of family. You don’t have to feel alone anymore I hope you know that.”

“Dean’s right, you are part of our family now.” Sam agreed giving her a warm smile and getting up to pull her into a hug. “I hope you’re okay with that.” 

“Yeah, I think I like that.” Lark replied blinking back tears as she accepted Sam’s hug.

“Well, since I’ve been ordered not to get up, you’ll have to come to me.” Dean said holding up his arms to her. 

Lark gave a small laugh and stepped to the bed to sit down beside him and lean into his arms to hug him. She felt safe and loved at that moment and she liked it. All her fears and doubts had vanished and she was just relieved that it was over with. She wasn’t sure how the brothers were going to take the news and her decision, but she was surprised that they were so understanding and seemed sincere about her being family to them because it felt kind of nice to have that relationship again. She also knew the brothers were extremely good hunters and wouldn't have to worry about them when on a hunt together.

spn

“You sure you won’t stay a while longer?” Bobby asked as Lark sat her bag by the door.

“I’ve stayed longer than I meant to Bobby, it’s time to move on.” she said giving him a hug. 

“You don’t be a stranger now, you hear me lass? I expect to get regular calls and visits.”

“I will, I’ll keep in touch.”

“You take care of yourself and call if you need help.” Sam told her wrapping his long arms around her small frame.

“I will and the same goes for you guys.” she said moving from his hug to Dean’s. “And I expect you to take it easy for at least two weeks Dean Winchester. You gotta let yourself heal before taking on any baddies.”

“Yes ma’am.” Dean chuckled giving her a gentle squeeze before letting her go. “You be careful out there, and stay safe.” he cautioned her in a brotherly tone.

“Yes sir.” she mocked back getting a warm smile from him. “I’m serious now, don’t take on a hunt until you’re completely healed; you’ll only get injured again or worse and I might not be there to patch you up.” 

Lark picked up her bag and headed for the door and her truck. She gave a final wave to the brothers and Bobby as they stood on the porch watching. She was heading for a small town in Kansas to check on a haunting story she found online. Lark was sure she would be seeing more of her new family and she was okay with that. 

A/N: The air has been cleared and family established. Thank you so much for favoring, following and reviews. I do like to know your thoughts, please comment. NC


	5. Chapter 5

Nearly three months had past since the Winchester brothers showed up on Bobby’s doorstep bleeding and hurt and in need of medical attention. Lark had took control and took care of them, stitching up and bandaging their wounds, giving Dean her blood and making sure they both agreed to some downtime to heal. She had kept in touch with Bobby like she promised and learned the brothers had stayed with him for nearly two weeks, which was better than she expected from Dean, before heading out on a job. She had worked several jobs by herself and one with another hunter she knew. After a little downtime, Lark picked up something strange happening in Sedona, a small town in Arizona. She found an article on a family run hotel that was reporting unusual spirit activity over the past month. She was heading there to check it out to see if it was a case.

The traffic had picked up somewhat after her last stop for gas since she was nearing Flagstaff. At least it wasn’t the height of tourist season for those visiting the Grand Canyon. Lark kept her speed even with the traffic around her as she checked the directions one more time and watched the road signs for her turnoff. Once she exited onto Highway 89, the traffic thinned out and she made good time to Sedona. Lark pulled into the hotel named Desert Flower Inn. It would be considered small to most travelers hosting only sixty rooms. It was a large three story structure that had been well maintained over the years and gave off a friendly, welcoming vibe. Lark parked her truck and got out surveying the area and the building with a hunter’s eye. Once she was satisfied, Lark headed for the front door. Inside she found a lobby and front desk with a middle aged man manning it. 

“Good afternoon may I help you?” he asked in a pleasant voice.

“I’d like a room for a few days please.” Lark said giving a quick glance around. 

“I think we can manage that miss. Is there any preference to floors?”

“Second would be nice, queen size bed would be nice too and if there‘s one close to any recent activity..." she asked. "Do you have a lot of guests right now?” 

“We’re just over half full, but it should pick up what with the spirit activity increasing around here. Are you a ghost hunter or just a curious onlooker?” he told her laying a form down for her to fill out. “We have a small dining area to the left; you’ll find the hours and a menu in your room. Nothing fancy but my wife’s a great cook and we use all local produce when we can.”

“Maybe a little of both.” she shrugged not wanting to give her reason for being here away. “Any idea why the spirit activity has suddenly increased?” 

“No, but it does make for good business. It brings in all kinds of people hoping to catch a glimpse of one.”

“Have you seen one?”

“No but a couple of my maids think they did and some guests have heard strange noises and there have been things moved around in the main lounge at night.” he told her accepting the form back and turning to retrieve a key from behind him. “This is one of our better rooms, room 227. If you should need anything just call down. The room is on the second floor, turn right and it‘s halfway down on your left.”

“Thanks.” Lark nodded taking the key and picking her duffle back up to go find her room. She used the stairs instead of the old fashion lift just off to the side of the front desk. Lark looked at the key and felt the heaviness of it in her hand. Only the older hotels still used keys, most had switched to cards years ago. She followed the directions and found her room, opening the door to step inside. The room was painted a creamy beige, easy on the eyes and shades of tans, browns and to mix it up oranges and deep red pillows accented the love seat and bed. Pictures of the Grand Canyon hung on two walls. The room was larger than most singles with a love seat, table and two chairs, dresser with a television sitting on it and a mini fridge with a coffee pot sitting on top. She could see through a door to the right was a bathroom. Everything looked clean and smelled fresh just like she liked it. Lark sat her duffle on the bed and unzipped it taking out her bathroom bag to put on the counter in the bathroom. She checked to make sure there were plenty of towels before strolling back into the other room. She sat on the bed and picked up a menu listing the times for meals and looked over the food available. It looked like each day there was two meats and sides along with a dessert. It was a simple menu, but the food looked good. She smiled when she read today’s dessert was fresh apple pie. Her thoughts went to the Winchester brothers, especially Dean knowing how much he liked pie. It looked like they would start serving dinner in an hour and only served from five to seven-thirty. Breakfast was served from six to eight and lunch from eleven to one but you could request a box lunch the day before to be picked up the next morning. With an hour to kill before dinner, Lark checked her weapons before heading out to check the hotel out. 

spn

Lark walked around the second floor not seeing anything out of the ordinary and headed back down to the first floor. She stopped at a table and picked up some brochures, one being about the hotel and wandered outside. The brochure showed a tennis court and swimming pool in back of the hotel along with walking trails that wove around through the hillside. All in all it didn’t seem like a bad vacation spot. She had checked out the hotel online and learned that the same family had run the place for over a hundred years, being passed down from generation to generation. At the moment a brother and sister and their families ran the place and lived on the first floor of the hotel. The brochure claimed that ghosts of family members past still walked the halls of the hotel. Whether this was for publicity or was true, she was more concerned with the new spirits that seemed to have appeared here lately.

She walked around to the back of the house finding the pool and a nice patio and the back entrance to the hotel. Several of the lounge chairs were occupied by other guests who didn’t pay her any mind. Lark was glad it wasn’t summer or the temperature would be unpleasantly too hot to do anything outside during the day. A soft breeze blew around the hotel catching her hair and blowing it across her face. She caught it with her fingers and pushed it back behind her ear as she gazed up at the windows of the hotel. Someone was standing at one of the windows on the second floor looking down at her. Lark shielded her eyes to see better but the figure was gone now. She got an uneasy feeling and wondered if she had just seen a ghost.   
Looking at her watch, she decided to head on in to the dining room and get a table. She headed for the rear entrance and made her way toward the front of the hotel and to the dining room. She stopped when she saw a sign that offered free computer use and pointed toward the lounge. Curious, she decided to check it out after dinner; maybe do some research on the place before heading back to her room. Lark figured at least she could print out anything she found for later reference. 

There were booths along the walls and tables spaced out around the room. Waitresses were milling around getting ready to begin service. One was being sure the tables had menus and silverware on each table and others were rolling more silverware in napkins, building up a stock. They looked her way for a moment before going back to their job. The one checking the tables stopped at the booth Lark was sitting at spoke to her.

“We’ll start serving in fifteen minutes, can I get you something to drink while you wait?” she asked.

“Sweet tea with lemon please.” 

“Coming right up.” she replied with a warm smile before heading to a drink station to get the tea. She brought the glass back to Lark’s table and sat it down in front of her. “I’ll be back in a few minutes for your order if you want to look at the menu.”

“That’s fine, thank you.” Lark smiled and nodded to her picking up the menu.

spn

The hotel was quiet now and the other guests were in their rooms sleeping as Lark stepped from her room and looked up and down the hall. It was after 3 am and she didn’t think anyone else would be wandering around at this time of morning. She walked quietly down the hall toward the stairs deciding to check around on the first floor to see if there was any spirit activity. She could hear soft music coming from a small office behind the front desk as she slipped by it. Lark headed for the lounge to check it out first since there had been activity in there. Soft light shone around the room from wall mounted lights casting the room in shadows. She walked into the empty room and looked around slowly for any disturbances. She stilled and drew in a deep breath letting her mind calm and letting her senses move outward trying to detect anything. She stood like this for ten minutes until finally giving up. Lark turned to leave when a sudden drop in temperature made her stop and turn back toward the far side of the room. She breathed out slowly and saw her breath as a sudden chill ran down her back. Lark stepped toward the fireplace when she saw a shimmering shape trying to materialize nearby. She waited, her gun in her hand ready to use if needed. She had rock salt rounds loaded in her gun just in case.

The faded form a young woman started to take shape six feet from Lark. She looked confused and scared as she looked around finally seeing Lark standing nearby. She started to back away as her image wavered and faded in and out.

“Hello, don’t be afraid.” Lark said softly holding up her empty hand. “I won’t hurt you.”

“Where am I?” the woman asked in a quivering voice. 

“Don’t you know?”

“No, I was in another place with others like me and suddenly something pulled me here.” 

“And what is that other place called?” 

“I’m not sure, it’s like an in between place where we wait.”

“You mean limbo?” Lark asked her.

“I don’t know the name...” she said before disappearing. 

Lark frowned as she looked around the room for the woman but not seeing her. She didn’t understand what the woman meant by being pulled from limbo. Crashing came from another room and Lark hurried off back to the lobby to find a guy her age coming from the small office looking around.

“Did you do that?” he asked Lark as she stopped at the desk.

“No, where did it come from?”

“The dining room.” he said starting to step out from around the desk.

“You stay here, I’ll check it out.” Lark told him as she moved toward the dining room.

Noises sounded again in the dark dining room and Lark raised her gun using two hands, ready to defend herself. She paused for a moment to let her eyes adjust to the dimmer light before stepping into the room and looking quickly around for the intruder. At first she didn’t see anyone until shadows moved toward the back of the room.

“Who’s there?” Lark asked staying in the middle of the room where she would have room to maneuver in case she was attacked. 

“No! No!” a male voice mumbled angrily as his form flickered in and out. He turned toward her voice and Lark could see hatred in his slightly glowing eyes. “Did you do this? Send me back!” he screamed at her as he advanced on her. 

“Stop now!" she demanded but the spirit continued to advance, stomping toward her. Not having any other choice, Lark fired a salt round into his body causing him to disappear. The guy at the desk raced into the room looking at her in shock.

“Are you okay?” he asked looking around for a body.

“Yeah, your ghost problem just took a strange turn.” Lark told him waiting to see if the male ghost was going to return. When he didn’t she headed back to the front desk with the guy on her heels. “I’d like to reserve a room with two queen size beds as close to mine as possible.” 

“Ummm...Sure I guess.” the guy said tapping on the computer keyboard for several seconds before looking back up at her. “I have a room across the hall from yours that has two queen beds.”

“That will work, register it under Winchester. Put it on my card and they‘ll be checking in hopefully later this morning.”

“Alright, they can pick up a key when they check in.” he replied. “Was that...Was that a real gh....Ghost?” 

“Afraid so and not a happy one like the other one I saw.” 

“There’s more?” he squeaked out in a high pitched voice. 

“Look if one appears you can protect yourself by throwing salt at it.” Lark told him before stepping into the dining room to grab a couple of salt shakers. “Open these and have them ready. I’ve got a phone call to make. I think I need a little help with this case.” she said pulling out her cell and finding the number she needed.

"Thanks, I think." the guy said looking at the salt shakers and back toward the dark dining room before deciding he'd feel safer in the other room. 

A/N: So Lark has found a case and needs help. Of course the boys to the rescue. Thank you for reading my creation. If you have a moment, please leave a comment. NC


	6. Chapter 6

 

An annoying ringing had Sam rolling over in his bed to see what it was. He was sure no alarm had been set by either him or his brother when they went to bed last night. Once he got his eyes working, he saw Dean's phone was ringing.

"Answer your phone dude." Sam fussed at Dean throwing a pillow his way to get his attention.

"Wha..." Dean grumbled trying to ignore the insistent ringing near his head.

Seeing his brother wasn’t moving to answer his phone, Sam reached across the nightstand and grabbed it to stop the insistent noise that seemed way to loud right now. His ears were still ringing and his head was still hurting from their last hunt.

“H’llo?” Sam complained trying to see what time it was and groaned when he saw it was just after 4 am.

“Sam?” Lark asked looking at her phone to be sure she had dialed Dean.

“Yeah, Lark is that you?” he asked his mind putting a face with the voice. He forced the pain in his head back so he could listen to her. “Is something wrong?”

“Look, I’m on a case that has taken a strange turn and could really use your help.” she told him. “Sorry ‘bout the early hour.”

“Where are you?” he asked sitting up slowly and grabbing a shoe to toss at his brother. “Wake up bro.”

“Okay!” Dean fussed wiping the sleep from his eyes to start at his brother.

“Small town outside of Flagstaff called Sedona. Any chance you and Dean could lend a hand?” 

“The good news is we’re not too far from you, we’re in Holbrook.” Sam said picturing a map of Arizona. “I’d say we’re about three hours away at most.” 

“Who is that?” Dean questioned listening to the one sided conversation guessing it was another hunter. He really hadn't wanted to get on another case this soon. Dean thought they could use a couple of days of downtime to unwind.

“Lark needs help with a case.” Sam told him as he tried to listen to her talking. 

“Where’s she at?” Dean asked more interested now that he knew who it was. 

“Sedona.”

“I’ve got you a room at the hotel I’m staying at; it’s called the Desert Flower Inn. It’s right off Highway 89 just before entering into the main part of Sedona.” 

“Should be easy enough to find. You’re lucky we just finished a job and was heading out in the morning anyway. We should be there in time for breakfast.”

“Good, well the food’s all homemade here and tell Dean they have really good pie.”

“Lark says the hotel has homemade pie.” Sam repeated to his brother.

“It better be good!” Dean called back to her when Sam held the phone out. “I don’t get up this early for just anyone.”

“Ignore him; we’ll be on our way in less than thirty. See you for breakfast.” Sam said hanging up.  
“Guess we better get packed and head out.” 

“You think? Did she say what was going on?” Dean asked getting up and stretching still feeling a slight twinge from getting tossed around on their last hunt that irritated old injuries from the ghoul attack. 

“No, just she was working a case.” Sam said looking around for some clean clothes before heading for the bathroom. 

Dean got out clean clothes and began to pack the others in his duffle while looking around the room to be sure he didn’t miss anything. He waited for Sam to finish in the bathroom before picking up his clothes to take his place.

“Be sure I got everything.” Dean said before closing the bathroom door.

“Right.” Sam nodded stuffing his clothes in his duffle and checking the room for any stray items that might have been missed. He sat the bags on Dean’s bed and waited for him to finish in the bathroom so they could leave.

spn

Lark sat in the lobby of the hotel waiting on the brothers to arrive. It was almost seven am and she watched guests coming down for breakfast before walking to the door and looking out into the parking lot. Her pulse sped up when a familiar shiny, black car pulled into the parking lot looking for a place to park. Lark smiled to herself when the two brothers got out of the car and strolled toward the front entrance. As they got to the door, Lark opened it with a warm smile on her face, glad to see the brothers.

“Sam, Dean, glad you could make it on such short notice.” 

“Hey Lark good to see you.” Sam said giving her a quick hug and passing her to Dean.

“Hey Kid, how’s it going?” Dean asked wrapping his arms around her slim body noticing she didn‘t shun their hugs and seemed at ease with them. He had talked to her a few times since she left them at Bobby’s and it seemed to get easier each time. He was sure now their relationship was going to be okay and not tense or awkward.

“C’mon, they’re starting to serve breakfast now and we can talk afterwards.” Lark told them looping her arms through theirs and leading them to the dining room. She chose a booth slightly away from the other guests so they could converse easier. It didn’t get by her that some of the women in the room were giving the brothers a once over with hungry eyes. She stifled a giggle and tried to put on a serious face as Sam looked at her curiously. Lark pressed her lips together to keep another from coming out and looked away.

“Not a bad little hotel.” Dean commented looking the place over. “Do I smell bacon?” he asked his eyes locking on the buffet that had just been set out. 

“The buffet is pretty good or you can order from the menu.” Lark told them. “We can go ahead and serve ourselves; it‘s pretty informal around here.”

They got up and headed for the buffet table starting at the end that had stacks of plates. Lark went first followed by Sam and then Dean. Neither brother noticed that the line suddenly got longer as several women moved in behind them, eyeing more than their faces. Lark and Sam chose healthy food and headed back to the table. She told the waitress they would have three coffees and waters when she came by. Both looked at Dean in shock when he came back with his plate piled high with food, mostly meats, eggs, hash browns and toast. 

“What?” Dean asked them seeing the expressions of disbelief on their faces.

“How are we even related?” Sam asked sadly, shaking his head and rolling his eyes.

“Just ‘cause you have to have rabbit food don’t mean I gotta.” Dean stated picking up a piece of bacon to chomp on.

“I like to keep my arteries unclogged and not keel over from a heart attack thank you.” Sam shot back then noticed that several women were watching them and whispering to their companions as they kept looking their way. Now he got it, why Lark was trying not to laugh; they were being looked at like a table of desserts and the women couldn’t decide which one to eat. He was just glad Dean wasn’t particularly paying attention or they might be in trouble. But he at least knew his brother wouldn’t mess around until they got the case wrapped up, he hoped anyway.

“I’m a growing boy who needs meat.” 

“Tell him Lark.” Sam said trying to pull her into the conversation. “Tell him how he’s killing himself.”

“Nope, not going there, I’m an innocent bystander here and I’m staying out of your argument.” Lark told them as she tried not to laugh at their bickering. It seemed nothing had change between the brothers since her last meeting with them; they still liked to banter and argue. 

“You were right, the food here is good. I can’t wait to taste the pies.” Dean said forking more food into his mouth. 

“You won’t be disappointed.” Lark told him as she put a piece of fruit in her mouth and chewed slowly. 

“So what’s going on Kid?”

“Well, seems like this hotel is starting to fill with spirits.” Lark said in a lower voice. 

“How so?” Sam asked, his interest peaked.

“I saw two last night, one was a young woman. She said she was pulled from limbo and brought here and another, a guy, very angry at being taken from where ever he was. I’m thinking limbo too, but he was too enraged to talk to.” Lark explained. “Had to shoot him with salt rounds.”

“Can I get you more coffee?” the waitress asked in passing holding a coffee pot ready.

“Please.” Dean nodded pushing his cup toward her. “Thanks.”

“Let’s talk about this more upstairs.” Lark mumbled glancing around as the other tables filled.

“That’s probably a good idea.” Sam agreed following Lark’s gaze. “Let’s enjoy our meal and get settled and then talk.”

“Sounds good to me. I just might need seconds.” 

“You know I have to be in the same room with you right?” Sam asked in disgust.

“Deal with it dude.” Dean said told his brother as he sopped a piece of toast through the yolk of an egg.

Lark couldn’t help but giggle behind her napkin at the banter between the two brothers. She didn’t realize how right it felt to be with them and to be able to call them her family. She still liked to hunt alone, but if she had to hunt with anyone she would choose the brothers over anyone, that is except Bobby. He had a hand in training all three of them and they were better off for it. He had become like a father figure to all three since he took them under his wing. Lark didn’t think she would ever find anyone that she could trust enough to call family again until she had met the Winchesters. When she first met them she had thought there might be a chance for romance with one of them, but after the Djinn encounter she didn’t feel that way any longer. Lark looked up warily when the guy who was manning the front desk last night made his way to their booth and stopped.

“Hi, umm...ummm...I just wanted to say thanks for last night.” he said quietly glancing at the brothers briefly before looking back at Lark. He didn’t see the frowning looks from the brothers as they tried to determine what he was talking about, both knowing he was definitely not her type. They were already treating her like a sister and were going to protect her from the opposite sex if needed.

“No problem, so you didn’t see or hear anything else?” 

“No, it was quiet the rest of the night. To be honest I never really believed the stories and all, but after last night...Well I think I’ve changed my mind.” 

“These are my friends, we sort of check these things out and we may be checking the hotel out at night to see if they return. Just so you know.”

“I’ll past that information along. Have a good day.” he nodded to her before leaving.

“You too.” Lark replied. 

“That was interesting.” Dean commented watching the guy walk away.

“He was working the desk last night.” Lark shrugged.

“I’m going to get some fruit, want anything else Lark?” Sam asked before he got up from the table.

“Well I shouldn’t, but one of those sweet rolls would be nice.” 

“You got it.” 

“Hey! You’re not gonna ask me if I want anything?” Dean complained.

“Nope, not feeding your addiction, you’ll have to do that yourself.” Sam said curtly heading back to the buffet.

“Paybacks a bitch, bitch.” Dean muttered just loud enough for Lark to hear. 

Sam got his fruit and a sweet roll for Lark and headed back to the table, but was stopped by two women who passed him a note before leaving the dining room. He shoved it in a pocket and moved on to the table. He paused before sitting down beside Lark to lean down and whisper to Dean, “I heard that jerk, bring it.” 

Lark was sipping her water and heard Sam’s remark to Dean and breathed in with a laugh when she shouldn’t and began to choke and started coughing into her napkin trying to clear the trickle of water that went down the wrong way.

“You okay?” Sam asked in concern as he patted her rather hard on the back. “C’mon Lark breathe.” 

It took Lark a moment to finally suck in a wheezy bit of air and nod she was okay. She coughed again to clear the remainder of the water from her windpipe so she could get a deeper breath. “I’m fine.” she said hoarsely as she cleared her throat and sipped her water again shrinking behind Sam when others stared at her. 

“Why don’t we head on up to the room?” Dean asked seeing her discomfort with the attention.

“I’ll get your room key.” Lark said in a whisper. “You guys get your bags.” 

“I’ll get us some coffees and sweet rolls to go.” Dean said waving to a waitress to get the check and order the coffees.

“Give me the keys; I’ll go get our bags.” Sam said holding out his hand.

“Could I get the check and three large coffees and a half dozen of those sweet rolls to go please?”

“Coming right up.” the waitress nodded going to the beverage station to get the coffee and got a to go box for the rolls. 

“Meet you at the stairs.” Lark told him sliding from the booth and tossing some money on the table. “I got this one.” 

“Thanks, we’ll get the next one.” Dean said scooping up the money and waiting for the waitress to bring the coffees and check.

Lark made her way to the front desk and checked them in getting a room key. She thanked the young woman working the desk now and went to the stairs to wait on the brothers. As she waited more guests arrived and she rolled her eyes seeing the names on some of the shirts: Ghost Chasers, Spirits Inc, and Paranormal Investigations. This might be harder than she thought with the amateurs now starting to show up to get in their way. None of them knew a thing about real spirits and would probably faint at the first site of a real one. She would let the guys know they had company and not the good kind. Plus she couldn’t resist the urge to tease Sam about the two women pretty sure they had given him their phone numbers and room numbers.

A/N: The guys have arrived so let the hunt begin. Thank you to all who decided to read my story. I hope you are enjoying it and if you have a moment, please leave a comment. NC


	7. Chapter 7

Lark opened the door to the room across from hers letting the brothers go in first. They glanced around the room for a moment seeing it was decent and had two queen beds. They stepped on into the room and Sam deposited their bags on the beds knowing to automatically take the one farthest from the door, while Dean sat the coffees and sweet rolls on the table.

"I'm right across the hall from you, thought that would be convenient.” she told them laying their key on the dresser. 

“Okay, let’s see what we can find out about this place.” Sam said pulling his laptop out and taking a seat at the table. 

“Let me go get my notes so you don’t have to duplicate stuff.” 

“Sound good.” Sam said watching her leave. “She seems okay.” he commented to Dean.

“Yeah, I think she’s got her head back in the game now.” he answered sitting coffees around the table and the sweet rolls in the middle. “You know, I’m kind of happy with her decision.” 

“What decision? To not date either of us?”

“To be family.” Dean said looking at Sam with a surprised look that he didn’t know what he was talking about.

“Oh...Yeah me too.” Sam shrugged looking back up when Lark came back in with a notepad, folder and her laptop. He wasn't going to say that deep down in the back of his mind he had kind of liked the thought of getting to know her in a romantic way, but would never voice his thoughts now. He would abide by her decision and if he thought about it really hard, he understood it and accepted it. But still he sort of envied the dream Sam somewhat for being her boyfriend and lover. He brushed that train of thought away immediately when Lark started talking.

“Okay...I’ve only been here one day so I’ve not got a lot, but it’s a start.” she said plopping down between the brothers and handing Sam her notes, printed articles and the brochures she had picked up downstairs.

Sam took the printed pages and Dean snagged the brochures and began to scan through them. Sam quickly read through several articles about the hotel and its history. He was impressed that it had remained in the same family all these years and still seemed to be doing a fairly good business. He wondered if some of that was them advertising about being haunted or if it was the location, being near the Grand Canyon. And he had to admit the rates were pretty good too and that had to draw guests in.

“While you guys are looking that stuff over I’ll see what I can find out about the area.” she told them turning on her laptop and waiting for it to power up. “Maybe something happened around here before this hotel was ever built.”

“Good idea.” Sam mumbled as he re-read one article before typing on his laptop in search of something.

“So did any of these family members actually die here in the hotel?” Dean questioned. 

“Haven’t really got that far yet and it doesn't state that anywhere that I read so far.” Lark told him. "I did find reference to a place nearby that the Native Americans, Apache to be exact, considered sacred to them. The only ones who would venture near it was their Shaman. It was told that the magical power in that place was immense and anyone who dare trespass there were killed." 

"Doesn't sound very friendly does it?" Dean commented looking up from the brochure he was reading.

“Actually it’s still owned by the Cochise Apache and very few people even know about its existence. I really didn’t find but a couple of articles about the place.”

"And it's nearby?" Sam asked, flipping through the pages until he found what she was talking about.

“I think I’ll go see what the owners have to say.” he said getting up. “You two geeks can handle this.”

“Bite me.” Sam and Lark said at the same time and looked up at each other before breaking out laughing.

“What-ever.” Dean sighed shaking his head and rolling his eyes at their laughter, thinking now he had two nerds to deal with. “I’ll be back later.” he said snagging the key on his way out.

“So he doesn’t do research?” Lark asked as she caught her breath and got her laughing under control.

“You could say that.” Sam snickered and sighed as he started typing quickly. "He's more of a hands on type personality."

Lark slapped down the paper she was reading and began to type furiously on her laptop. She was in full geek mode right at the moment, making Sam stop and stare at her.

"Something you wanna share with the class?" he asked when he saw the excitement in her eyes.

"I don't know how I could of missed this the first time." she mused. "Don't you know what's coming up?"

"Ummm...Let me think? The weekend?" Sam suggested not sure where she was going with this.

"What date is Saturday?" she asked looking up at him for a moment.

"That's easy, the 31st." 

"And what month is this?"

"October, making Saturday October 31st, Halloween." Sam said perking up, but still not seeing the significance of it. "Still not getting it." he frowned trying to see what she saw.

"All Hallow's Eve, Celtic festival called Samhain, when the boundaries between the world of the living and the dead become blurred, but this year it falls on a blood moon making it twice as powerful. It is believed that the dead can return to the Earth on that day. And if you're a witch wanting to do some weird ass spell what better day to do it on? It's a double whammy for spell casting and if you have the power of spirits too...."

"Crap! Crap! There's no telling what that person could do." Sam agreed as he began to type faster too.

"And what do you wanna bet that whatever is going to happen will take place on that sacred ground?"

"I think we're on to something here." 

spn

The front desk was being manned by a middle aged, good looking woman. He strolled over to her since she didn’t seem busy at the moment. She looked up as he stopped at the desk and leaned against it.

“Hello...Zoe.” he said reading her name tag and smiling at her. “My name’s Dean, I’m a guest here.”

“Good morning Dean, can I help you?” she asked politely.

“I was wondering if you would mind answering a few questions for me? Are you part of the family that owns this place?”

“If I can sir and yes I am.” 

“I read on the brochures about this place being haunted by spirits for a long time.”

“Well, there have been those who say they’ve seen something, but I’m not sure how credible they are.”

“So you don’t believe in ghosts?” 

“Let’s just say I have to see it with my own eyes.” she relayed with a shrug.

“Has any of your family passed away in the hotel here? Or have there been any unusual deaths here?” 

“Well let’s see....My great-grandmother died here and I believe there was a brother or cousin too. My brother Ian would know better than me; he knows more about the family history than me.” 

“Would he be around by chance?” 

“Let’s see, I think he’s gone to town for groceries for the restaurant, but he should be back after lunch. Would you like me to have him call you when he gets back?”

“Yes thank you Zoe that would be very helpful.”

“Are you here about the new ghost sightings?”

“Ummm...mm, you could say that. It might not be what it seems.” 

“Are we in danger? Do we need to do anything to protect our guests?”

“At the moment no. My brother and me and a friend will be keeping an eye on things and checking some things out, so don’t be alarmed if you see us looking around.” Dean explained to her. 

“You’ll let us know if there’s any problems right? We have to think of the safety of our guests.”

“We will. Thank you for your help and I'll wait to hear from Ian.” Dean said turning to see some wanna be ghost hunters come in the door talking among themselves as they headed up the stairs. He huffed to himself hoping they were not going to get in their way.

“I’ll have Ian contact you this afternoon when he’s free.”

“Here’s my cell number for him.” he said scribbling a number on a piece of paper. “Thanks for your help and you’ve got a nice place here.”

Zoe watched the guy head back upstairs wondering just who he was and how he knew so much about ghosts. The rumors didn’t bother her and she honestly thought they were that, just rumors. But to be on the safe side she folded up his cell number and slipped it in her pocket to give to Ian when he returned.

spn

“Either of you find anything interesting?” Dean asked as he let himself back into their room and strolled to the table where to two were still typing and researching.

“Well this place does have a colorful past. The land was originally owned by Native Americans, but was taken away when white people moved west. In the late 1800’s it was bought by a Nathaniel Collins who build the hotel here. It was smaller of course and over the years has been remodeled and enlarged to what you have today. It really took off in 1919 when the Grand Canyon became a national park and people started coming here to see it. I really can’t find any record of murders taking place here, but I don’t know about deaths.” Sam droned on making Dean space out. “Are you listening to me?” he complained when he saw Dean’s eyes go glassy.

“Yeah, yeah. Talked to a Zoe downstairs and she’s gonna have her brother call me. He knows the family history for this place, maybe that’ll give us a lead. Supposed to be back after lunch.”

“I’m not sure I understand why someone would be summoning spirits back to this plane.” Lark asked.

“Even in death spirits have a lot of energy. It could be for a spell or someone is trying to obtain their power for who knows what.” Dean told her. 

“You think we’re dealing with a witch then?” Sam asked his brother.

“I hope the hell not, I hate witches and their casting spells and spewing bodily fluids everywhere. It’s disgusting!” 

"Lark has a theory you should listen to. You know Saturday is October 31st." 

"Yeah, so?" Dean asked not picking up on the significance at first and then his eyes widened. "Halloween! The favorite time for all things that go bump in the night."

"And it's a blood moon making it even more important for certain rituals and spells." Lark added. “The magic is much stronger and more powerful during that 24 hour period. And I think we've found where the witch will be doing the spell casting. It's nearby.”

“Then we’ve got three days to stop whoever is doing this.”

“If it’s a witch, wouldn’t they have to be staying here? I mean the spirits are appearing here in the hotel.” 

“We need to get a hold of all the names of the guests staying here.” 

“What if we perform a séance and see if a spirit can help us?” Lark asked. “I know the spell to speak to them.” 

“Might be worth a shot.” Sam agreed looking to Dean for agreement.

“Where do we do this at? Not really hip on conjuring a spirit here in our room.”

“How ‘bout the library downstairs, that’s where I saw the female spirit who was fairly friendly.” 

“Guess we can do it after everyone goes to bed.” 

“Let’s just hope those dumb ass wanna bes don’t take any midnight strolls.” 

“Did more of them check in? I saw a few earlier.” 

“Don’t know, there were some coming in while I was downstairs.” Dean said not keeping the contempt from his voice. He thought all of them were incompetent fools and should find a new line of work and stay out of their way before they got themselves killed. 

“Why don’t we try to get a nap since there’s nothing we can do for the time being?” Sam suggested. “The spirits are usually more likely be active during the night.”

“I could go with a little shut eye since we got an early morning wakeup call.” Dean teased looking at Lark with an arched eyebrow.

“And you would of missed that scrumptious breakfast with all that bacon and sausage?” Lark shot back, batting her eyes at him. 

“She’s got ya there bro.” Sam snickered seeing Dean frown for a moment as he thought about a comeback. 

“I’ll be next door.” Lark giggled getting up to head back to her room. “See ya later this afternoon. We can have an early dinner and get ready for tonight. I think pecan pie is on the menu for tonight Dean. Of course it‘s homemade.”

“Did you say homemade?” he asked perking up.

“Sounds good.” Sam replied rolling his eyes at his brother knowing she had him at the mention of pie. 

“Let’s just hope we get some answers tonight.” Dean mumbled. “We still got witch killing bullets in the trunk?”

“Yep, we can get them after dinner.” 

“Well I’m gonna grab some shut eye.” Dean said plopping down on one of the beds and sighing. 

“I’m gonna see if I can hack their computers and get a guest list.” Sam said opening up his laptop. “Then I’m doing the same.”

“Just keep it quiet over there, no heavy tapping please; one does need his beauty sleep.” 

“Screw you.” Sam replied half heartedly as he began to type.

A/N: Looks like they have their work cut out for them and thank you to DSCWin for her idea for the story. Thank you all who are hanging in here with this story, I do appreciate the support and hope you will leave me a comment. NC


	8. Chapter 8

An incessant buzzing made Sam crack an eye and look over toward his brother who was snoozing in the bed beside him.

“De'n ans'er y'r cell.” Sam slurred, tossing a pillow at his brother and rolling over to go back to sleep.

“H’lo.” Dean mumbled into his phone, his head still pressed into the pillow. “Yeah, alright.” Dean said coming awake and pushing himself up from the bed as he tried to wipe the sleep from his face. “Give me fifteen minutes and I’ll meet you downstairs....Sounds good.” Dean smacked his brother on the back rousting him enough to talk to him. “Going down to meet this Ian guy, you wanna come?” 

“Wha...I’m up.” Sam grunted jerking awake and looking up at his brother. 

“You wanna come to interview Ian?” 

“Yeah, yeah.” he said sitting up but still looking slightly dazed. 

“Wake up then.” he said giving him another smack to the stomach before strolling toward the bathroom. 

Sam grunted and puffed out a mouth of air, glaring at his brother madly. He wiped the sleep from his face and swung his legs off the side of the bed sitting up and stretching while he waited to use the bathroom. He didn’t have long to wait until his brother stepped from their bathroom. Sam pushed himself from the bed and headed into the bathroom for his turn. 

“He’s gonna meet us downstairs in less than ten minutes, so make it snappy there Samantha.” Dean called to him knowing how slow Sam could be.

"Jerk."

"Bitch

spn

The brothers made their way down the stairs and into the main lobby in search of Ian, one of the owners. They saw a middle aged, fit man standing at the desk and walked toward him.

"Are you Ian?" Dean asked once he was close enough to speak.

"Yes, you must be Dean and..." he said looking at Sam who was standing just behind Dean.

"This is Sam, my brother." Dean introduced them.

"Hello, nice to meet you." Sam said offering his hand to shake.

"You too. My sister said you wanted to know more about the history of this place." Ian said shaking Sam's hand as he gave both brothers careful study.

"Yeah, we're..." Dean started trying to decide the ruse to tell him.

"History buffs and researchers." Sam inserted trying to act casual. 

"Yeah, what he said. We're interested in the increased ghost activity you've been having lately." Dean started. "Has this happened before?" 

"Well a few years back we had some strange things happen but nothing ever come of it, it just stopped." he shrugged. "Why don't we have a seat in the dining room where it’s more private." he suggested.

"Sounds good." Dean agreed following him into the dining room with Sam close behind. They took a table by the window and sat down.

"So can I get you anything, coffee, water, soda?" 

"No we're good." Dean said settling into the chair. "Tell us about this place...Things that's not in the brochures."

"Like what? People claimed to have seen ghosts here for as long as I can remember. It attracts a variety of individuals and ghost hunters who come here in hopes of seeing one for themselves. It's what makes this place popular among the thrill seekers I guess, but it’s never been this...This literal, things moving and tossed around and some of the guests actually thinking they're seeing ghosts." 

"Have there been any deaths here in the hotel?" Sam asked. 

"Well, our great-grandmother died here, she was almost ninety and I think before that there was a cousin who had an accident and died on the grounds. A couple of years ago an elderly man passed away in a room, but it was deemed natural causes."

"Were there any unusual deaths or was anyone murdered here?" Dean inquired.

"Murdered?" Ian said in surprise. "No, not that I know of." 

"Has there been any...Strangers that seemed off or acting suspicious check in recently?" Sam asked.

"I can't discuss our guests with other guests." Ian insisted. "I'm sorry." 

"I understand." Sam said figuring maybe he could hack into their computer system and get the guest list.

"We're going to be around for a few days, if anything out of the ordinary should happen let us know." Dean told him. "We're in room 230."

"Are you expecting trouble that I should be aware of? I do need to think of my guest here and their safety." 

"They should be fine as long as these make believe ghost chasers don't do something stupid." Dean growled madly. 

"You don't seem like the usual paranormal people we get here. Are you ghost hunters too?" Ian questioned giving the brothers another once over.

"Let's just say we've got a lot more experience at this than most and know how to handle the situation." Sam replied, not wanting to come out and say what they did. 

"My nephew told me about your friend and how she helped him. Would you thank her?"

"That would be Lark and I know she was happy to help."

"We're going to be checking the place out tonight if you'll let whoever's at the front desk know so they won't freak out and call the cops on us."

"I'll do that. Well, I should get back to work if there's nothing else."

"We're good, thanks for talking with us." Dean said standing up and shaking his hand. 

spn

The brothers watched him walk away and stood to leave. Two young people coming down the stairs caught their attention when they noticed the ball caps they were wearing had the cartoon character of Casper on it. Both had some kind of hand held gadget and were talking excitedly to each other. Dean frowned and his face darkened. He wanted to tell them to get the hell out of here and leave these things to professionals, but knew it wouldn't do any good. Sam just looked at them with interest, stepping a little closer to see what they had in their hands. The young woman noticed their stares and nudged her companion nodding to the brothers. 

"Hi, can I help you?" the young woman boldly asked Sam who was surprised at first by her question since he wasn't expecting any conversation from either of them.

"Oh sorry, no...I was just wondering what that was." he said pointing to the device in her hand, acting like he didn't know.

"Oh this, it's an EMF reader." she replied holding it where he could see. "It registers the electro magnetic frequency in the air. It let's you know if there might be a ghost or supernatural entity close by.”

“So you two think you're ghost hunters?” Dean asked rather bluntly.

“We do research on the paranormal yes, but not just ghost.” the young man answered giving Dean a cautious look. “We do other research also.”

“And have you ever seen one?”

“No, but we’ve gotten some good readings on our equipment.” 

“Oh right...Readings.” Dean nodded sarcastically. 

“Nice to meet you.” Sam said quickly as he pushed his brother toward the stairs before he started something.

“Quit shoving!” Dean hissed through clenched teeth.

“Stop acting like a jerk then.” Sam spat back. "They're not hurting our case, let them be."

"They'd probably piss in their pants if they saw a real spirit or for that matter anything supernatural." 

"Maybe, but you didn't have to be so rude, for some reason people seemed fascinated with the supernatural. As long as they’re not getting in our way just ignore them.”

“Fine!” Dean grumbled rolling his eyes in resignation at his brother.

spn

Lark looked up when a soft knock sounded at her door. She looked at the clock and saw it was 1:30 am, so the guys were on time. She went to the door and opened it letting them in.

“You ready?” Dean asked as he glanced around the room.

“Yes, just let me get my bag.” Lark responded stepping to a table and picking up a pack. “Shall we guys?”

“Lead the way.” Dean nodded. "We checked the halls and downstairs, there was only one couple coming in from bar hopping a town over so we should be okay."

The three hunters made their way down the hall, checking as they went for any other guests. Luck was by their side and everyone else seemed to be asleep. Lark led them to the library/sitting room and closed the door behind them. She looked around and motioned them to a small table sitting by a window with four chairs around it.

“This should do.” she said sitting down and opening her pack.

Sam and Dean took a seat at the table and watched as she set up. She first removed a black silk cloth with sigils painted on it and spread it out over the table. Then she took out four deep purple candles and sat them on the four compass points before taking a match and lighting each of them as she began to speak.

"We cleanse this place of all negative energy. I call upon Fire to purify, Water to quench, Earth to anchor and Wind to cleanse. Open my mind and let me see." she chanted, holding a lit match to each candle wick until it caught, sending a hiss and sizzle up in the air.

She placed a small brass bowl in the center and sprinkled crushed herbs into it. Lark started to chant softly while pouring holy oil over the herbs. With a very sharp silver knife, she cut her index finger and let blood drip into the bowl, then wrapped a bandage around the cut to stop the bleeding. Once that was done, she dropped a match into the bowl igniting the contents. The room filled quickly with an earthly, slightly sweet aroma as a dense, bluish gray smoke twirled toward the ceiling. Lark waved a small amount of smoke her way letting it bathe over her for a moment.

“Take my hands and join hands, don’t let go no matter what you see and don‘t speak.” Lark told the brothers as she laid her hands on the table face up. "They need to hear only my voice so you two need to remain calm and quiet." she said sternly looking at Dean in particular with a raised eyebrow.

“Okay.” Dean mumbled with a pout, gripping Lark’s hand firmly thinking it felt colder than it should. He reached over and locked onto his brother’s hand before turning back to Lark. He was starting to wonder if this was a bad idea and should stop it, but Lark began.

“I call upon any spirits that can hear my voice, come to me. Let me be your conduit to this world. Be not afraid, come to me. Hear my voice and come to me. ” she said in a strong, commanding voice that was just loud enough for the brothers to hear. “If you are here, show yourselves to me. Come forward.” 

Sam and Dean kept glancing around them as they felt her hands get colder and held on tighter to them. Both noticed a drop in the temperature of the room as a breeze blew through making the flames of the candles dance causing them to feel uneasy. They watched Lark draw in deep breaths as her hair was blown from her tilted face and she let it out slowly, keeping her eyes shut as her lips parted slightly. 

“Show yourself to me. I wish to speak with you, I mean you no harm.” she continued. “This is a safe haven for you, don’t be afraid.”

The brothers stiffened and went on high alert when two shimmering figures faded in and out behind her. It took every ounce of strength Dean had to sit still and remain quiet. He looked over at Sam who was staring wide eyed at the spirits biting his lower lip to keep from shouting out. Dean jerked hard enough on his arm to get his attention and silently spoke to him to hang in there. He squeezed his hand tighter to hopefully assure him things would be okay. Both of them shivered as the temperature dropped low enough to see their breath as they exhaled. Lark was colder than either of them as she concentrated on making contact.

“I know you are here. Can you speak to me? Can you tell me who is doing this to you?” 

“The spell is old, she wants our energy as her own.” a wispy female voice spoke from one of the spirits.

“You must stop her and return us to where we belong.” a male voice insisted harsher than the first.

Lark cried out as a hand grabbed her lower arm, sending icy pain down it and making Sam grunt when he felt some of the pain. She hissed and willed herself to stay still. She could feel the guys tensing up, but they kept a firm hold on her hands. “I’m okay. I‘m okay.” she panted looking at the brothers for a moment to assure them before looking at the spirits. “We will do everything we can to help you. We know you don’t belong here, if you can try and control your anger and not hurt anyone please. Can you leave this place to stay safe?”

“Something is preventing us from leaving this place. We are trapped here and some are very angry, but we will try to do as you say.” 

“How many have been pulled here?”

“It increases each day, but some are disappearing too. Their souls are being drained. You don’t have much time.”

“I know, thank you. We will do all we can for all of you.” 

“Hurry please!” the female said before the two spirits flickered and disappeared from the room. 

Lark slumped forward before speaking, “You can let go now.” she whispered drawing in a tired breath. Now she knew why she hated séances; they drained too much energy out of her. She needed some down time if she was going to be of use to anyone today.

Both brothers let out the breath they were holding as the room began to warm. They let go of the hands they were holding. Sam rubbed the one Dean was holding since he squeezed a little too hard near the end. Dean leaned over and blew out two of the candles and Sam did the same with the other two. Noises at the closed door had all three looking that way as it swung open.

A/N: Comments are welcome. NC


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Thank you to those who have decided to read my story. I hope you are enjoying it. Please comment. NC

 

Before they could speak again or remove the items used in the séances the door to the library opened and two guys walked in that could be the poster boys for nerds everywhere. They were shorter than the guys, skinny and needed some major outside time in the sun. Plus they wore tee shirts that said ‘Ghost Exterminators’ on the front. They stared wide eyed at the three sitting at the table, at the candles and stenciled cloth on the table.

“Hey! Are you guys doing a séances? Can we join in?” one asked excitedly as they moved closer. “We’re checking the hotel for any unwanted spirits.”

“Why don’t you kiddies go back to your room and go back to bed.” Dean told them as he got up. “This doesn’t concern you.”

“Are you trying to talk to the dead?” the other asked as he turned on a video camera and started to record the three.

“Get that thing outta my face before I shove it up your....” Dean growled batting the camera away.

“Dean!” Sam cautioned getting up to stand beside his brother. He saw how drained Lark was and didn’t want this on camera. “Look guys why don’t you go do your thing somewhere else? We were just leaving.”

“Yeah, go play hide and seek with a ghost somewhere else.” Dean agreed. 

“Hey, we‘re professionals here, we‘ve been doing this for nearly a year now.” the guy said proudly.

“A year?” Dean laughed sarcastically. “They’ve been doing it a year, and have you seen any spooky ghosts?”

“Well no, but we did catch a door closing by itself and a cup moved.” one said proudly. "Not much but we saw it."

“Buddy if you saw a real ghost, you’d tuck your tail between your legs and run like hell. You have no idea what you‘re doing or how deadly a real spirit can be.” 

“No we wouldn’t, we’d get it on tape.” he insisted holding the camera back up. “Besides ghosts can’t hurt you, they’re only transparent bodies of energy.”

Dean started to laugh hard as he stepped closer to loom over the two dumb asses before speaking. 

“A real spirit could tear your insides out and feed them to you asshole. You’d die a bloody fool.” Dean growled getting into their space.

Both guy’s eyes got wide and they stepped back from Dean, fear written on their faces from his body language.

“Look why don’t ya go check out the grounds.” Sam offered stepping between Dean and the two guys and giving Dean a stern look to be quiet. “I heard some staff say that’s where the last ghost was spotted.” Sam suggested wanting to get them out of there so they could get Lark out of here.

“Yeah go do that, but don’t get lost. I ain’t hunting your scrawny asses down.” Dean added with a disgusted huff.

“C’mon Phil, let’s go, they don’t appreciate our expertise.” 

“Give me strength, I‘m gonna butt some heads...” Dean muttered under his breath as he stepped back toward the pair who ran for the door until Sam caught his arm to stop him.

“Let 'em go, we need to get out of here before anyone else comes in here. Lark needs to lie down.” Sam told him turning back to Lark. “Are you okay?” Sam asked rubbing the hand he had been holding gently between his. 

“I’m fine.” she said weariness showing in her speech and body language.

“Sure you are.” Dean said sarcastically. He quickly moved the candles on the table to take up the bowl and cloth. “Your hand feels like you decided to soak it in ice water.” 

“Here, give me the other one.” Sam encouraged taking her small hands in his larger ones and tried massaging warmth back into them as they trembled.

“We need to get out of here ’fore some other assholes comes snooping.” Dean told them as he finished packing her pack and slung it over his shoulder. “Let’s go.”

“C’mon Lark, you need something hot to drink.” Sam said wrapping an arm around her shoulders and holding her close as they followed Dean. 

Lark shivered under Sam’s arm as she allowed him to steer them out of the room. They went back upstairs and Dean took Lark’s key opening her door so Sam could move her inside. 

“Tea in duffle.” she said as her teeth chattered uncontrollably. 

“Here, sit.” Sam told her grabbing up a blanket and draping it around her shoulders. “Let me see your arm.”

“Really, I’m fine.” she tried to assure him.

“Humor me.” he insisted pulling her arm out of the blanket and waited for her to unbutton her outer shirt and slip her arm out of the sleeve. He looked at an ugly, red handprint on her upper arm and knew it had to hurt. “Where’s your first aid kit?”

“Really Sam, I can take care of it.” 

“Let him do it Kid, he won’t stop fussing until you do.” Dean commented as he got some hot tea ready.

“Fine...It’s in my duffle.” 

Sam found the kit and looked through it for some sort of cream for burns. He frowned when half the stuff in bottles wasn’t labeled so he didn’t know what it was. He was guessing most of this was homemade by Lark.

“Do you have something for burns in here?”

“Yes, it has a blue top, white bottle.”

“Found it.” he said removing the bottle and shaking it before opening. Sam looked inside at a creamy, greenish liquid and dipped his fingers in surprised at how cool it felt. He carefully smeared the cream across her upper arm where the handprint stood out against her tan skin, glancing at Lark when she sighed softly as the cream took away the pain. Once he was done, he wrapped a strip of gauze around it for protection. “There, done.”

“Here drink this and get in bed.” Dean told her holding out the hot tea.

“Thanks guys.” she said wrapping her hands around the warm cup and taking a small sip.

“If you need us you better call one of us.” Dean told her sternly. 

“Yes sir.” she said saluting him. 

“Don’t be stubborn Lark, seriously if you need us call.” Sam added.

“I will, I’ve had worse so I’ll be okay.” 

“We’ll start fresh early in the morning and see if we can find this witch.” 

“Good night guys.” 

“Nite Kid.” 

“See ya in the morning, get some rest.” 

spn

"I'm gonna go over the guest list before going to bed." Sam told his brother since he was too wired to sleep at the moment.

"Split them with me." Dean said grabbing a couple of waters from the mini fridge. 

"Did you know she could do that?" Sam commented.

"Nope." 

"We can take any males off the list since they said it was a female." Sam said tearing the paper in half and giving him one part of it.

"Hopefully that'll narrow down our suspects." Dean mused looking at the names on his list. He grabbed a pen and started marking male names off.

"So how many do you have?" Sam asked once he had crossed off the male names on his list.

"I got eleven." Dean said looking up from his list. "How 'bout you?"

"There's ten on my list." Sam said. "That's make twenty-one right now."

"How're we gonna narrow it down? We can't just go up and ask a woman if she's practicing black magic." 

"Maybe Lark might have a way. She does seem to know quiet a bit about them."

"I'm for gettin' some sleep and dealing with this in the mornin'." Dean yawned as he stretched his arms and got up. 

"I'll be goin' shortly." Sam replied deciding to do a little research on a few of the names before turning in. He was still wide awake and wanted to narrow their search down more. He looked over the names and then thought about the owners and wondered if the females of the family should be included in their search. He stayed up another hour checking out names before finally going to bed.

spn

Incessant knocking had Dean jerking awake with gun in hand and Sam joining him by his side. Neither were fully awake as a female voice called to them.

"Guys...You awake in there?" Lark called jiggling the lock and opening the door. "Oh hey guys." she said stepping into the room and seeing both standing by their beds dressed in briefs and tee shirts holding weapons. "Did I wake you?" she asked innocently trying to keep from giggling at them.

"We were just getting up." Dean said acting nonchalant about it. 

"I'll go on down and get us a table." Lark told them. "You can join me when you're ready." Lark chuckled as she went back out the door to head downstairs.

"Damn! I forgot how early she gets up." Dean grumbled un-cocking his gun and slumping slightly.

"Guess we need to get ready." Sam sighed shaking his head and giving a brief laugh. "You want the bathroom first?" 

"Yeah, yeah." Dean grumbled heading for the bathroom in a bitchy mood.

Sam smirked as he gathered some clean clothes wondering if Lark was going to get the brunt of Dean's ill mood at breakfast. He had a feeling she would be able to hold her own with him if past experiences were any indication. Lark had proved she could take care of herself in just about any situation.

spn

Sam and Dean took seats at the table Lark had gotten in the corner of the room where they could check out the other guests who were coming in. 

"I ordered coffee for everyone and figured you guys would do the buffet again for breakfast." Lark said pouring coffee into their cups from a carafe. 

"Thanks." Sam nodded picking up the cream pitcher to pour in his coffee.

"Do they have bacon?" Dean asked craning his neck to see the buffet table.

"Not sure, now that you're here we can go check it out." Lark said getting up to go to the buffet table. Both brothers followed her and started to serve themselves from the buffet. They headed back to their table with food and began to eat, both eyeing Dean's overfull plate as he dug in moaning and sighing. 

"Should we get another table so you can make out with your food?" Sam chided rolling his eyes at his brother.

"You just don't know how to enjoy the finer things in life." Dean shot back as he cut up a piece of country ham. "You know, this is about as good as bacon." he said putting a piece of ham in his mouth.

"I got the guest list yesterday and have eliminated part of the women on it." Sam informed Lark as he ate waffles with fresh fruit and maple syrup.

"You read my mind, I was going to do that this morning or if that didn't work, sweet talk one of the family members to get it." 

"I've checked out a few of the names and didn't find anything that threw a red flag." Sam told her. 

"What if it's not anyone who is staying here? What if it's a neighbor around here and for some reason the spirits are gathering at the hotel waiting to be used or drained?" Lark questioned looking from one brother to the other.

"Good questions." Dean said. "But I don't have any answers." he shrugged and continued to eat.

"Good point, guess we need to cover all our bases and check out neighbors too." Sam added.

"I can do that after we eat, but first I want to check out this sacred site we found. Maybe there's some clues there."

"I'll go with you. You don't need to be out there alone. Sammy can continue knocking out names on the list." Dean replied pointing his fork at Sam as he talked. 

"So you like the outdoors and hiking?" Lark asked skeptically, arching an eyebrow.

“Beats research.” Dean replied smiling happily. “Who wants seconds?” he asked getting up to get more food.

“Where does he put it all?” she laughed watching Dean go back to the buffet. "They're gonna ban him from the buffet if he keeps this up."

“I don’t even want to know.” Sam laughed with her. “It’s not that he can’t do the research, he just can’t be still that long. He starts getting a little antsy.”

“I can see that.” she giggled looking over at Dean for a moment stopping her mind from wandering to other thoughts. "You know you two are a big hit around here." she said with a snicker. 

"What do you mean?" Sam questioned frowning at her remark.

"You've got every woman in this place undressing you with their eyes thinking what they'd like to do to you." she whispered, biting her lip to keep from laughing out loud as Sam's face starting turning shades of red.

"No they're not." he mumbled keeping his head down and studying his breakfast.

"What'd you do?" Dean accused her when he plopped back down at the table seeing a red faced Sam and an almost choking Lark who was trying her best not to let the laughter out. 

"Nothing, just drop it." Sam told him as his sipped his coffee letting his eyes quickly glance over the cup at the ones around him.

"Spill it Kid, this has you written all over it." Dean accused her.

"I just made a comment." Lark was able to squeak out finally. 

"And what was that?...." 

"Oh that every woman in this place has their eyes on you two." she snickered and cleared her throat. 

"So? What's the big deal?" Dean shrugged bolding looking around to see a couple of woman looking their way but quickly looked away and whispered among each other. 

"That wasn't exactly how she put it." Sam said in a tight whisper. 

"Go ahead and spill, won't bother me." he shrugged.

"I just said they were undressing you with their eyes and dreaming of what they'd like to do to you." she said innocently with a shrug of her shoulders. "And I think whipping cream might be in the picture."

Dean forked a bite of food into his mouth and looked from Lark to Sam and back. 

"Bring it baby." Dean smirked watching Lark startle for a moment and then covered her mouth to laugh.

"I'd watch eating too much Dean, remember we're going hiking." she commented smiling sweetly. "Unless you wanna stay here to do the research and let Sam go instead?"

"Don't worry 'bout me, I'll be fine. Need to build my strength up." he said with confidence while pouring another cup of coffee. "I'm sure I'll walk it off."

"Most of the hike is pretty easy and it's not that far from here, probably only a couple of miles or so, but the last part is pretty steep hiking." Lark explained.

"I'm sure he can handle it." Sam nodded as he watched his brother finish his food thinking he wasn't going to handle it very well at all. 

"I know what you're thinking and you're wrong." Dean accused Sam, pointing his fork at him. 

Sam didn't reply as he arched an eyebrow with interest and pursed his lips. Lark looked between the two brothers and wondered what she had missed. She knew they had this special thing almost like they could read each other's thoughts.

"We need to finish up and head back to the room to gear up and get this done." Lark told them as she sipped the last of her tea. "I'll grab a couple of waters to take with us." she said getting up and going to a table that had different beverages sitting in ice. 

"Guess that's our cue to leave." Dean nodded wiping his mouth and digging money out of his pocket to pay for the meal.

"I don't need to tell you to be careful do I?" Sam questioned.

"Of course not, careful's my middle name."

"Sureee..." Sam drew out knowing how untrue that was. He shook his head at him and walked toward the stairs catching up with Lark.


	10. Chapter 10

“Are we close?” Dean huffed as he followed Lark up a steep path about three miles from the hotel. They had veered off the main trail twenty minutes before and were making their way up to a small mesa that the Native Americans was said to hold mystical powers and was sacred to them. He wished he hadn't drunk that last cup of coffee now, but wasn't going to let Lark know it. He had already stopped to relieve himself twice along the way.

“It’s right up here Dean; maybe five more minutes to the top.” Lark told him as she chose a path around some large boulders.

“Now I remember why I hate hiking.” Dean muttered as he caught his breath and trudged on after her. It was six minutes later that they stepped up onto a large level clearing. Dean wiped the sweat from his face before looking around trying to spot anything that might help. He started to walk further into the clearing when a hand pulled him back, stopping him from moving forward. He saw markings on some rocks toward the center of the clearing he wanted to check out.

“Wait Dean, let me.” Lark stated in a no nonsense voice. She moved slowly a few steps away from him holding her hands out as she opened her mind to what was giving her goose bumps and cold chills down her spine. The power this place was emitting was more than she had felt before and treaded carefully knowing this could be dangerous. She was feeling something very strong and old here and it frightened her. “We’re not supposed to be here.” she whispered as images flooded her mind. She tried to comprehend what she was seeing but could only see the blood running red into the sand and feel the pain of anguish and sorrow and despair. But there was something else that was under all that, an evil of some kind that seemed anchored to this place.

“Lark what is it?” Dean asked her when he heard her words and saw her grow pale and break out in a cold sweat.

“This place has been cursed by the ones who were here before us. There was a horrible battle here and something bad is still here. We need to go now.” she said turning to grab his arm and pull him with her the way they had come. She felt an immense force here that seemed dangerous, she wasn’t sure, but she didn’t want to find out. All she knew was they needed to leave this place before it was too late.

“Hey! Hey slow down!” Dean complained, stumbling slightly as he tried to keep up with her. She didn’t let go or stop until they were well away from the place. “Lark what the hell? Talk to me.” Dean commanded dragging her to a stop, which was harder than he thought it would be. He saw a hint of fear in her eyes that changed to one of uneasiness and worry as she sucked in short shallow breaths. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” she finally got out as she tried to calm her breathing. 

“Don’t give me that shit, something spooked you back there didn’t it?”

“We need to get back to Sam.” she said once she was able to speak. 

Dean looked at her hard before grabbing her hand and continuing back down to the main trail. He didn’t speak to her, but kept a strong grip on her cold hand that trembled slightly in his. He got them back to the trail in half the time it took to find the sacred ground. They set a fast pace back to the hotel, neither bothering with conversation. Dean kept a close eye out for any danger when he saw Lark was preoccupied with her thoughts wondering just what scared her that bad. Whatever it was had to be something very bad and very dangerous to get that type of reaction from her. He only hoped they would be able to stop the witch before someone got hurt or worse died.

spn

Sam looked up when the door opened to their room and watched a pale, sweaty faced Lark and red, sweaty faced Dean almost fall into the room. He knew something was wrong without asking as Dean made a bee line for the mini fridge to get waters, handing one to Lark. Sam watched Lark fumble with opening it and helped her and watched her trembling hands raise the bottle to her lips and gulp down several swallows before stopping to catch her breath. He looked to Dean who seemed shaken too and wondered just what happened to them. He remained silent, waiting for them to compose themselves so they could talk. Lark moved to one of the beds and sat down to stare off into space.

“Dean what happened?” he asked quietly looking over at Lark and back at him.

“I’m not really sure.” he whispered back. “I think she saw or felt something at that place and it scared the crap out of her.” 

“Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, she got us out of there fast and we double timed it back here.” 

“I’m gonna go to my room.” Lark said suddenly, getting up and stumbling a step.

“Why don’t you stay with us?” Sam asked sensing she shouldn’t be alone. 

“I’m fine, I’ll just go lie down for a few minutes and then get a shower.” she said.

“It’s okay Kid, just lie down on my bed and take a nap?” Dean told her guiding her back to his bed and pushing her down on it. She didn’t protest as he covered her with a blanket and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. Lark closed her eyes and snuggled under the warm blanket, curling into a small ball as sleep overtook her. 

“What else can you tell me about that place?” Dean asked Sam as he dropped into a chair at the table.

“Here’s what Lark printed out. I’ll see if I can find anything else online.” Sam said handing Dean some papers to look at. “Think she‘ll be alright?”

“Yeah, she’s tough. I think she just needs to rest.” Dean said looking over at his bed at the small mound. He could only see strands of hair sticking up over the blanket. “I’m gonna take a shower.” Dean stated once he got a whiff of himself and grimaced. 

“I’ll keep digging.” Sam said as he scanned through an article he had found looking for anything new. 

“Did you find anything on the other names?” 

“Not really, whoever it is is good at hiding or it’s not any of them.” he huffed wiping a hand down his face. It seemed they were getting no where fast and time was running out before October 31st got here.

“Okay, we’ll try another approach.” Dean replied as he pulled clean clothes from his duffle and headed to the bathroom for a shower hoping the hot water would loosen his sore leg muscles. The more they learned about his case, the less they really knew. He hoped Lark could shed some light on things when she woke up. He might give Bobby a call and get his insight on the case, thinking maybe they needed a new set of eyes to look the data over.

spn

It was a couple of hours later that Lark began to stir in Dean's bed. She lay there for a moment gathering her thoughts before sticking her head out from under the covers. She saw Dean sitting at the table, but no sign of Sam. She sat up in bed drawing Dean's attention to her.

"Hey Kid, feeling better?" he asked as she shed the blanket and scooted to the end of the bed.

"Yes, I just needed a little nap. Where's Sam?" Lark said joining him at the table.

"He went down ten minutes ago to grab us some lunch. Figured it'd be easier since you were out of it." 

"Thanks, I was going to see if one of you would get me something anyway." 

"Here drink, you need to hydrate." Dean told her pushing a water her way. 

"Thanks." she said smiling gratefully and sipping on the water as her mind wandered back to the mesa and her eyes went far away. "I'm gonna head to my room an' get a shower and clean clothes. I kinda smell ripe." she commented suddenly, wrinkling her nose when she caught a whiff her shirt. 

"Alright, c'mon back over when you're ready." he told her watching her get up and leave. Dean studied her retreating form and sensed something seemed a little off with her. He had a feeling it was whatever she saw or sensed at the mesa. He closed the laptop and pushed it back on the table frustrated that they hadn't found anything new about the place. They had been searching since Lark had lain down, but they couldn't find anything new in any articles they found. If something really bad had happened there, it seemed it was never written down anywhere. He sat there contemplating their next move waiting for the others to join him.

spn

Lark was coming out of her room as Sam was walking down the hall burdened with bags of food and drinks. He smiled when he saw her and sped up his pace.

"Hey, how ya feeling?" Sam inquired a lopsided smile plastered on his face. 

"Better after a shower. Here, let me help." Lark replied as she relieved him of some of his load.

"Thanks." he said trying to untangle his hands as Lark took some of the bags. Sam opened the door with the key and allowed Lark to enter first before following. "Foods here." he announced holding up what he was carrying. 

"Smells good too." Lark added not realizing how hungry she was until she got a whiff of the food.

"Did ya get pie?" Dean asked pulling a bag toward him to look in it.

"Yes, how could I forget? You reminded me six times 'fore I left." Sam complained as he sat down at the table. 

"Ya know you've got a good brother Dean. He wouldn't forget your pie." Lark teased them. "Especially if he wanted to live." she giggled taking the other chair at the table.

"Damn straight." Dean stated firmly only to make Lark laugh harder.

"Now I know why I keep you two around." Lark gasped as she caught her breath. 

"Our ruggedly, handsome good looks?” Dean beamed as he opened a container with a bacon, double cheese burger and steak fries. “Come to papa.” he cooed picking up the burger. 

“My arteries are clogging just watching you.” Sam sighed shaking his head as he opened up a large salad with grilled chicken on it.

“Just ‘cause you can survive on rabbit food doesn’t mean everyone can.” Dean said around a mouth of burger.

“Geez! Dean! At least swallow before you talk.” Sam fussed in disgust as he shielded his eyes from Dean.

Dean only smiled wider, showing a mouth of partly chewed up burger to Sam and smirked when Sam made a bitch face and threw a slice of cucumber at him.

“Boys, behave and eat your food.” Lark said trying to be the voice of reason. She had seen some of their prank wars and knew it could get hairy and she didn’t wanna get caught in the crossfire. “Don’t make me get physical with you.”

“Better do as she says.” Sam said his lips twitching with a smile. “She might toss a spell at us.”

“Yes Mom.” Dean smirked as he dipped a fry in ketchup and popped it in his mouth chewing and swallowing. 

“Well, if that’s what it takes.” she shrugged taking a bite of a grilled chicken sandwich and chewing thoughtfully. 

“When we’re done think we could talk about what happened earlier today?” Dean broached giving Lark a curious glance. He saw the quick change in Lark’s facial expression and then the wall went back up as she sat her sandwich down and reached for her drink. He face remained passive but her eyes told another story and Dean wished he had waited until they had finished eating to ask her. “I’m sorry Kid, I should of waited to ask about that.”

“No, no it’s fine.” she replied giving a brief smile that never went any further than her mouth. 

Sam saw the awkwardness building between his brother and Lark and tried to change the subject. 

“Boy this food is really good.” Sam inserted. “I got you a piece of pie too Lark, I know how you like it.”

“Thanks Sam, that was sweet of you.” 

“They’re different kinds, so I though you guys might share.” Sam said innocently glancing from Dean to Lark. He saw Dean suddenly frown and poof out lips before speaking.

“And you reasoned this how?” Dean asked arching his eyebrows with the question.

“Oh Sam, Sam you don’t know me as well as you thought.” Lark sighed shaking her head slowly. “I may share a lot of things with no problem, my knowledge, my weapons, my clothes and even my bed if the need did arise, but when it comes to my pie....That’s a huge NO.” 

“What she said.” Dean agreed giving Lark an interesting look. “How would you even think I’d con....”

“Okay, okay. I get it.” Sam said holding his hands up in defeat. “I learned my lesson; always get the same kind.” 

“So what did you get us?” Lark asked curiously. 

“Oh no!” Sam said shaking his head no with vigor. “They’re covered so you can’t see them. You two can fight it out among yourselves.” he stated firmly taking a bowl of homemade banana pudding from a bag and sitting two white cartons shaped like a piece of pie in the middle of the table. “Go for it guys.”

“Well since I’m a gentleman...” Dean started but was stopped by perils of laughter from the other two. “As I was saying, ladies first.” Dean continued giving Sam a ‘say anything and die’ look.

“That’s mighty kind of you.” Lark nodded as she studied each carton for a moment before sliding one in front of her and pushing the other toward Dean. “I say if we both like our pies, we can try the other’s at our next meal.”

spn

“I guess it’s time to talk.” Lark surmised as she speared the last bite of apple pie and looked at it for a moment, and then offered it to Dean. “Try it; I think you’ll like it.” 

Dean didn’t say anything as he took the fork and ate the bite of pie, nodding contently. He had saved the last bite of pecan pie for her and pushed the carton to her. She smiled slightly and looked at Dean as a silent secret passed between them for a moment. They looked toward the bathroom as Sam came out, faltering in his steps for a moment with they steady gazes.

“Did I miss something?” 

“No.” they both said together and chuckled together. 

“Okay...not strange at all.” Sam mumbled more to himself than them.

“Look Kid, we tried to find more data on that place and couldn’t find anything that we don’t already know.” Dean said stacking the empty cartons to throw away and getting to the point.

“I’m not surprised.” Lark said. 

“What happened Lark? Tell us.” Sam said gently trying to encourage her.

“That place...It’s not what we thought. It’s sacred and much older than we even thought. But it’s a prison too. Something is trapped there and I think whoever is summoning the spirits wants to use their powers to release it.”

“Any idea what it is trapped there?” Dean asked.

“Only that it’s evil, very evil and if it gets loose....” she said trailing off at the end not able to put into words what she saw. She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes for a moment feeling two different hands coming to rest on her own for comfort.

“So...Is there any way of telling if a person’s a witch or not? Like maybe a spell to reveal her or something?” Dean questioned as the chick flick moment passed.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who is reading this story. I hope you are enjoying it. Please comment. NC


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Hope you enjoy this chapter. Comments are appreciated, if you have a moment please leave one. NC

 

 

Knocking at the door stirred Sam from his research knowing it was Lark who was ready for breakfast. This was their last day to figure something out before Halloween and the blood moon.

"Hey, you 'bout ready, Lark's here." Sam called into the bathroom as he went to the door to let her in.

"Hey Sam, you guys ready? I know I'm a little early." she asked stepping into the room and glancing around for Dean.

"As soon as Dean's finished in the bathroom."

"I've got a fieldtrip for us this morning after we stop at a gas station." 

"What kind of fieldtrip?"

"I found a shaman that lives about thirty minutes from here and spoke with his son to see if he would see us today. I thought maybe he might shed some light on that place."

"Sounds good." Dean commented as he strolled out of the bathroom in time to catch most of what she said. "Well let's go eat so we can go see this person. I am ready for some bacon!" he said rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

"We were waiting for you." Sam huffed, rolling his eyes at his brother’s eagerness and grabbing the key before following the others out of the room.

“So-o-o...Would you have bacon at every meal if you could?” Lark questioned.

“Please! Don’t encourage him.” Sam complained. “He’s bad enough as it is.”

“I can only dream...” Dean sighed with a wishful look on his face making Lark giggle at him and Sam giving him a partial bitch face. 

They made their way downstairs and found a booth by the window. Dean slid in beside Lark moving her over with his hip as he settled down. Sam bit his lip to keep from laughing at the expression she threw his way before sliding over.

“Good morning, what can I get you to drink?” a waitress asked.

“Coffee’s good.” Dean said.

“Same here and water please.” Sam said.

“Hot tea and water.” Lark answered last. “And we’ll all have the buffet.”

“Very good, I’ll get your drinks out and help yourself to the buffet.” 

“Thanks.” Sam replied for all of them. “Show a little restraint dude.” Sam mumbled to his brother as he got up to head for the buffet ignoring Sam‘s words. 

“Don’t waste your breath, he’s not gonna listen.” Lark told him, pity in her voice. 

“Had to at least try.”

“He’s not gonna change Sam, it’s to ingrained in him. We’ve just gotta accept the good with the bad.” 

“Yeah, I know.” Sam chuffed a laugh as he watched Dean go down the line, a child like look on his face as he filled his plate. “Honestly, don’t think I would change him.”

“I know he is pretty awesome.” she whispered as they got in line and picked up plates. 

“I wouldn’t go that far.” Sam teased.

"It's okay Sam, you're awesome too." Lark said smiling super sweetly a Sam.

spn

“You sure those directions are right?” Dean asked as he steered the Impala around another pot hole in the supposedly road.

“Yes, it should be just ahead in about a mile. You have to remember Dean, we’re on the reservation now and most Native Americans have it pretty bad. So don’t be surprised by anything you see.” Lark explained staring out the window at the bleakness surrounding them.

“Up ahead Dean, that’s probably it.” Sam said pointing to some structures off to the right. 

“Got it.” Dean said slowing and turning onto a road beside a row of mailboxes. He let the car roll slowly down the road looking at the small, rundown houses that dotted the road on either side. The supposed lawns were mostly dirt with splotches of brown grass randomly sprinkled across it. Puffs of wind blew up small swirls of dust that skipped across the road in front of them making Dean grimace as it coated his Baby in small particles of sand. Some of what were supposed to be lawns had broken down cars sitting on them, and others trash sitting at the end of the driveway making it seem even more desolate.

“It’s number 114.” Lark said sitting up and looking between the brothers out the windshield. She saw some kids playing with an old kick ball in a field just off the road that stopped and stared hard watching them go by. Their clothes were mismatched and most didn’t have shoes which made Lark feel sad knowing that there were so many out there in the same situation. She planned on doing some research and making a donation to help this community out. 

“There.” Sam pointed to a small cabin sitting back off the road that seemed in a little better shape than the other places. It was still rundown, but a few new repairs could be made out.

Dean pulled to the side of the road and parked so they could get out. Lark got out of the back and surveyed the area taking in a small garden patch off to the side, a little shed barely standing and several outdoor chairs that had seen better days. She grabbed the bag out of the back and moved around to join the brothers and walk the dirt path to the small, covered porch. Lark stepped forward and knocked twice, waiting for an answer. She could hear movement from behind the door until it swung open on squeaky hinges. A young man stood in the foyer looking at them.

“Hello, I’m Lark, was it you I spoke to earlier about your grandfather. I know he‘s a Shaman for the tribe.” Lark offered as the young man looked each of them over.

“Yes, I’m Jacob.” he said. “Grandfather is on the deck in back.” he continued stepping outside and starting around the side of the house. 

Dean and Sam looked at each other and shrugged before following Jacob and Lark around the house to a small deck that had rotten and broken boards. An elderly man of undetermined age sat in a rocking chair with a blanket across his legs and was staring out into the distance. The brothers saw the faint cloudy appearance of his eyes and looked at each other knowingly. Jacob offered Lark the other chair and Dean and Sam sat down on a homemade bench, hoping it would hold them as it creaked and strained under their combined weight. They didn’t say anything figuring Lark could take the lead on this one.

Jacob spoke to his grandfather in their native language and as he looked at Lark. The Shaman raised his cataract coated eyes to meet Lark’s and stared at her for a moment before mumbling to his grandson in a raspy, hoarse voice. Even though he could barely see anything now, he didn‘t let it stop him from his everyday life.

“Grandfather says you have a strong, wise spirit for one so young.” Jacob translated for his grandfather.

“Will you thank him for me? I brought him some gifts.” Lark said giving the bag to the grandson who looked inside and spoke softly to his grandfather.

“He thanks you for these gifts and will talk to you now.”

“I wanted to know if he knew anything about the sacred land that is near the hotel, The Desert Flower Inn in Sedona.” Lark asked and waited for it to be translated.

The Shaman turned his cloudy eyes toward Lark again as his grandson spoke to him. The hunters saw the body language of the Shaman change with something the boy said and he began to speak again, pausing for his grandson to translate and then continued.

"Grandfather says that the place you speak about has not been spoken of for many, many moons. It is said that a great evil came into the land after the Apaches settled here, well before the pale faces came and took the land from our people. The story was told around the cooking fires, passing it from one generation to the next. It told of a silver eyed monster wearing the skin of a warrior coming into the village and how it stole a person's soul and slaughtered the people of the village. Only a few were able to escape its bloody rampage. The monster seemed to enjoy the carnage it left behind. " 

All three hunters made eye contact as the description of the evil sounded a lot like a demon to them. They remained quiet as the Shaman continued his story.

"Four of the most powerful Shamans from the neighboring tribes joined together to fight this monster and trapped him in that place where no Indian will set foot. The land was cursed and the monster was trapped for eternity. Not a single member of any tribe will speak about that time, but the Shaman have kept the story alive, passing it from generation to the next knowing a time might come that the story would need to be known." 

"Tell him there is someone who is trying to release the monster and control it for their own benefit." Lark said and waited for a response as Jacob whispered to his grandfather.

"If the evil is released there will be no stopping it, no controlling it, the whole world will suffer its wrath. You must stop this from happening or the world is doomed. Wait here Grandfather wants me to get something." the young man said going back into the cabin. Everyone waited patiently for him to return until he finally came back carrying a leather pouch that he gave to his Grandfather. The Shaman ran his hand over the pouch before opening it and pulling out an unusual necklace along with a soft, piece of rolled up leather and mumbled something as he waved his hand over it before reaching out searching for Lark's hands. He placed the necklace and the leather scroll in her hands and spoke again. 

"Grandfather says you will need these to draw on the protectors and stop the monster from rising. You must use your knowledge and powers to stop anyone trying to release him. You will need the strength of the ancestors and this will help channel it. There will need to be three others who are brave enough to face the evil with you. My days are numbered and I am not strong enough to help. You have two with you that seem capable of this task but you will need one more. The one trying to do this horrible deed will be doing it when the powers are at their strongest, you do not have much time. Go with my blessings and I hope that you are wise and strong enough to stop it. If not, then we are all doomed.” the young man ended looking to the three hunters curiously. The Shaman began to chant quietly in the background in a sing-song voice and the others knew the meeting was over. 

“We appreciate his help and promise we will do our best to stop this from happening.” Lark said bowing out of respect to the elderly Shaman and stowing the items in her pack without looking at them deciding she could do that at the hotel. At least the trip had not been a waste of time and maybe they were one step closer to stop this witch from raising this monster.

“Good luck.” the grandson said as they got ready to leave. “Grandfather says he will gather the elders and pray for your success.” 

“Thanks.” Sam mumbled giving a brief smile before following his brother and Lark back to the Impala.

“Well that wasn’t creepy at all.” Dean said once he settled into the driver’s seat and the others got in. 

“Who should we try to contact as a fourth?” Sam asked knowing they didn’t have much time to find someone.

“Who else but Bobby, but he won’t have time to drive here.” Dean suggested.

“I’ll get him a plane ticket on the next available flight here.” Lark said pulling out her cell and speed dialed his number. “Hey Bobby it’s Lark...I’m okay, look Dean and Sam are with me and we’re working a case but need one more person like asap...No you’ll have to fly here. What’s going down will happen Saturday and we’ve got to stop it or we’re in big trouble, really big Bobby. I’ll have a ticket waiting at the airport for you and Dean will pick you up down here...No I insist, it’s no problem....Good, I’ll text you when I have it booked. Thanks Bobby we’ll see you soon.” Lark said. “He’ll come all I have to do is get the ticket for him.” she said as she typed on her cell to see what was the first flight to Sedona. 

“Guess we need to head back to the hotel.” Dean said heading back the way they came. “What are you two going to be doing while I go to the airport?” 

“Research, we need to do some heavy research.” Lark said as she concentrated on her cell screen checking the flights until she found one that would work. After some quick tapping, she purchased the ticket and sent Bobby a text that it would be waiting at the airport for him. “Okay that’s done; he should be arriving at the airport around four this afternoon. We can brief him and head back to the sacred place, I figure we need to get there before midnight and get set up since we have no clue when the witch will make an appearance.”

“I’m betting it’ll be between midnight and dawn. I don’t think she’d try to do anything during the day.” 

“We can grab some lunch to take to our rooms and get started then.” Sam commented wondering just what they were going to be researching. 

"What did the Shaman give you Kid?" Dean questioned glancing in the rearview mirror at Lark.

"A necklace..." she replied slipping it from her pack. "And a leather scroll like..." she mumbled untying the string holding it closed and slowly rolling it out. She frowned as she stared intently at what was on the cloth.

"What is it?" Sam asked looking over the seat back at her.

"I think it may help us with stopping the monster from being resurrected." she said vaguely. "I'll need to study it more when we get back." With that said, Lark rolled up the cloth and put both items back in her bag and sat back staring off in the distance as the wheels turned faster in her brain. 

The brothers looked at each other wondering what was on the leather scroll and how it could help them. Neither questioned her knowing she would tell them when the time was right. They had learned her quirks while working with her and knew not to press the issue.


	12. Chapter 12

"Okay Dean here's a list of some things I need." Lark told him as she scribbled on a piece of paper and held it out to him.

Dean accepted the paper and glanced down at the list and back up at her without saying anything. They had been back at the hotel for several hours and they had been scouring lore and websites and whatever else they could find to find a possible spell or ritual that would help stop the witch from destroying the barriers that kept the demon bound. All three were pretty sure from the description that it couldn't be anything else, but this was the first time they had heard of a demon with silver eyes. 

"If you leave now you can pick the stuff up and then go get Bobby at the airport." she suggested seeing he didn't take her hint to go now.

"Right." Dean sighed pushing himself from his chair and looking around for his coat. 

"Better grab some extra batteries too. We'll have light 'til nearly nine or so, but I think darkness may fall quicker tonight." 

"Batteries, yeah." Dean mumbled as he grabbed the key for the room and headed out the door. 

"Sam, do you feel it?" Lark asked quietly as she looked up from her reading, making eye contact with him. She was studying the leather scroll the Shaman had given her one more time waiting for him to answer.

"Yeah, I do and I'm worried. What if we can't stop this from happening?" Sam questioned, seeing the concerned look and worry in her eyes. He was impressed that she could sense it too. It was like things were out of sync and there was a strange heaviness in the air that wasn’t there when they first got here. "What do we do then? What if it does get released onto the world?"

"We do what we always do, we figure a way to stop it and save the world." Lark answered trying to keep the confidence in her voice as she tilted her head in defiance. "You've gotta have a positive attitude and believe in yourself and it doesn't hurt to maybe have a little faith that with our combined efforts we'll stop her from raising it. I believe and trust in you, Dean and Bobby. I think we'll make a team to be reckoned with.” Lark concluded and then tried to change the subject. “Have you found anything else in that old tome I had?”

“Maybe, but not sure.” Sam said pushing the book her way and pointing at some barely legible writing. He watched Lark bend her head over the page and grab a pair of reading glasses as she squinted and began to read the passage. She absently pushed her hair from her face and caught her lower lip between her teeth, only to have her hair fall back in the way. Lark wrinkled her nose and without really thinking about it, pulled her hair back and twisted it into a bun and used a pencil to hold it in place. He smiled to himself thinking how she could surprise him with her wisdom and attitude. She might not be a Winchester, but she sure had the traits of one, that was for certain. While Lark studied the passage, Sam pulled his laptop closer and searched for Native American rituals and spirits. He knew they probably only had one shot at this and if they failed, they might not make it out alive. 

Lark pulled the leather back in front of her and mumbled under her breath as she translated the passage and ran her finger over several sigils painted on the leather. Something was clicking in her overtaxed mind as she looked up and pictured the combination of the passages, merging them into one. She didn't notice Sam watching her closely or the concerned look on his face.

spn

"I need to get a few things from the truck." Lark said breaking the silence in the room. "I think I've got a super old journal in the truck that might help and I need a few other things I've got out there."

"Okay, I need to stretch and I'll grab us some fresh coffee from the dining room." Sam said wearily as he stiffly got up and listened to his joints popping. 

"You sound like Snap, Crackle and Pop." Lark giggled stretching too and getting her on popping.

"You're one to talk." Sam laughed opening the door so they could head downstairs.

They split up at the foyer, Sam strolling into the dining room and Lark heading out into the parking lot to her truck. She had moved it closer to the entrance when a space became available so didn't have far to go. She unlocked the back and pulled herself into the camper to rummage around for what she needed to make gris-gris bags for them for protection and finally found the journal she had tucked away. Lark had her items in a small tote and stepped from the back when she caught movement from the corner of her eye. A figure dressed in black and wearing a coat with a hood suddenly appeared blocking her way. Lark went for her gun when suddenly she was thrown backwards against the truck with a hard thud. 

Sam walked from the dining room and glanced toward the parking lot to see if Lark was heading back when he saw her flying backwards and hitting the truck hard enough to knock the breath out of her. The container of coffees fell to the floor and Sam ran through the front doors drawing his gun and zeroing in on the figure in black who had her arm out toward Lark. 

"Hey!" Sam yelled as he shot at the figure only to suddenly feel himself being propelled backwards as a sharp pain began to radiate through his chest and he couldn't seem to draw air into his lungs. He clawed at his shirt as he tried to force his chest to expand and pull in air as he struggled to breathe.

Lark saw blackness when her head collided with the truck and she worked hard to not pass out. Her body slid down the truck body to the ground and she shook her head slightly to dispel the dizziness. A familiar voice yelled off to the left and suddenly the force was gone long enough for her to see a tall, blurry figure running their way and was suddenly knocked to the ground. Without thinking, she drew a special knife from her boot and lunged at the legs standing near her, stabbing as hard as she could into the person's thigh. The figure stumbled backwards and cried out before limping away from the scene. Without really thinking about it, she hid the knife back in her boot before falling forward trying to control the nausea and double vision as she pulled her body toward the one lying on the ground nearby. She didn’t make it far before everything went black.

Just before he lost consciousness, Sam was suddenly able to suck in a much needed breath of air into his starved lungs. He coughed hard as he wheezed and tried to roll over trying to get up on his knees. His only concern was getting to Lark to see if she was hurt. He tried to call out to her but nothing came out but a weak croak and gurgle. Several other guests that were heading out saw him and ran to help him stand on wobbly legs. He pushed away from them and hurried clumsily between the vehicles seeing Lark on the ground not moving. 

“H’lp.” Sam croaked as he felt her neck for a pulse. He sighed with relief when he felt a rapid beating against his fingers. 

“S’m...” Lark mumbled as she tried to open her eyes and raise her head.

“I’ve called 911.” a guest said from behind him. 

“Lay still.” Sam told her as he brushed her hair back from her face. 

“You okay?” Lark got out as she blinked rapidly trying to clear her double vision.

“I’m fine.” Sam replied as he felt down her arms and body looking for signs of injury.

“Ouch.” Lark complained as she ran her hand over the back of her head feeling a knot and seeing blood on her fingertips. 

“Let me see.” Sam said helping her to sit up so he could see the back of her head. He could see the blood matted in her hair and gently parted her hair to see a small laceration and a good sized knot that was turning dark. 

“Is she okay?” a female guest asked in concern.

“Just hit my head, nothing serious.” Lark told her as she used Sam’s help to slowly get to her feet. 

“There’s the rescue squad.” a male guest commented when sirens could be hear close by.

“I’m really okay.” Lark huffed as she tried to pick up her tote.

“Let them check you out, won’t hurt.” Sam said reaching for the bag for her. 

“Only if they do the same for you.” Lark replied as she squinted against the sun trying to deal with the severe pounding in her head. 

“Over here.” a guest called to the paramedics as they got out of their vehicle.

spn

Two guys with medical equipment moved toward Sam and Lark and helped them toward their vehicle. One started taking vitals on Sam and the other on Lark. Her head wound was cleaned and checked and they recommended both to go to the hospital to be checked further, but both declined. Sam helped Lark toward the hotel and up the steps to the front entrance. 

“Are you two okay?” Ian asked holding the door open for them.

“Yeah, just a little shaken up.” Sam answered for them.

“The cops should be here shortly to take your statement.” 

“Alright, we’ll wait in the lounge.” 

“I’ll get you something to drink.” he said hurrying into the dining room while Sam and Lark went to sit on the couch to wait for the cops.

“Did you see her face?” Sam whispered.

“No, she had a hood pulled up and I couldn’t get a good look. It all happened too fast.” Lark huffed carefully rubbing her forehead. 

“You need something for pain.” Sam told her looking up as Ian brought them some hot tea. He saw Dean and Bobby coming in the front door and stood to wave at them.

“What the hell happened?” Dean asked when he saw the disheveled, dirty look of his brother and the slightly pale look on Lark’s face. “You okay Sammy?”

“We were attacked.” Sam said looking down at Lark and then back to Dean. “Yeah I’m good; I think Lark got it worse than me.”

“Lass are you okay?” Bobby asked moving to sit down beside her and taking her hand while studying her face.

“I’m fine Bobby.” Lark replied trying to smile. “We really need to get back upstairs.” 

“The cops are here.” Sam mumbled as two sheriff deputies stepped in and moved toward them.

“Hello, I’m Deputy Shaw and this is Deputy Murphy.” he said introducing themselves. “Are you the two who were attacked?” 

“Yes, I’m Sam Winston and this is my sister Lark.” Sam said shaking the deputy’s hand.

“And I’m Dean their big brother and this is Bobby our uncle.” Dean said with a nod as he studied the deputies.

“So what happened?” 

“I went to my truck to get some things and saw someone breaking into a car and tried to stop them, but got knocked down.”

“I saw it and went to her aid, but couldn’t stop the person either.” Sam said following Lark’s lead. “They ran toward the back of the parking lot.”

“Can you describe the person?” 

“They were wearing black and had a hood pulled up over their head. I didn’t see a face.” Lark told them as she swallowed hard and rubbed her eyes.

“Look, the lass needs to lie down. She took a pretty hard hit to the head.” Bobby told them standing up to take control. “If you need anything else we’d be happy to come down to the station.” 

“Alright, I think we’ve got enough for now. You both will need to come down to the station to sign a statement before you leave the area.”

“We can do that. Thank you.” Sam said shaking their hands again and waited for them to leave before turning to the others.

“Let’s get you upstairs Kid.” Dean said gently to Lark, helping her up and moving her toward the stairs.   
“C’mon Sammy, Bobby.”

“I’m gonna get some coffees for us.” Bobby said seeing the dining room was still open.

“Get Lark another hot tea.” Sam told him.

“Will do and maybe they’ll have something we can snack on.” 

“We’re in room 230.” 

“Alright.” he said splitting from them to check out the dining room.

 

A/N: So I hope you like where I’m taking the story and thank you for reading. Comments welcome. NC


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: The journey is almost over, only two chapters left and we will be at the end. Thank you to everyone who has come along for the ride. I hope you have enjoyed it. Comments are welcome as always. NC

 

"Bobby, I was going to make gris-gris bags for us all, think you can take over?" Lark asked offering her tote bag to him when he came to the room.

"Of course Lass. I'll take care of it. Why don't you lie down for a bit?" he replied sitting the drinks and a couple bags of food on the table. He could see how drawn and pinched her face seemed and could see the pain in her eyes.

“I didn’t see which way she went, but I think I might have hit her. Too bad I didn’t have the witch killing bullets in yet.” 

“She reflected the bullet, but I got her with my knife. I blessed it and put a spell on it. That’s why she ran.” Lark added in a weary voice.

"Good to know, but what Bobby said goes for you too Sammy...Both of you lay down; we‘ve got a while before we have to leave." Dean added giving his brother his big brother stare showing he meant it. "We'll take care of things for a couple of hours."

Sam and Lark looked at each other, both knowing that look and moved to sit on either side of Sam's queen size bed. Sam grimaced as he lay down and watched Lark ease down beside him. He pulled a blanket over both of them and let her snuggle into his side. 

"Are the pain meds kicking in?" he mumbled to her looking at the back of her head where there was still a little dried blood.

"A little." she whispered closing her eyes and willing the pain to go away. "Good thing I'm hard headed."

"Maybe this will help." he said taking one hand and gently kneading her neck and shoulder and letting his fingers work into her hair to rub her scalp being careful not to hit the knot back there. Sam heard her hum softly as he felt her body relax more under his touch. 

“Thanks Sam...” she sighed letting her mind glide away into dreamland.

spn

“I’ll help.” Dean told Bobby as he pulled the items from the tote bag. 

“Alright, I need four five inch squares of cloth cut.” Bobby replied pushing a piece of deep red cloth toward him.

“I can do that.” Dean said pulling out a knife to use but was handed a pair of scissors instead. He shrugged and accepted the offering thinking his idea was just as good. “Is she okay?” he asked in a low voice while glancing toward the bed at the two sleeping forms.

“She’s tough; I think the knock to the head rattled her is all. She‘ll do what needs to be done.”

“I hope so. From what that Shaman dude told us if we don’t stop whatever that witch has planned and she releases whatever is trapped there, it could destroy humanity.”

“Well that doesn’t sound ominous at all.”

“So our best bet is stopping the witch rather than trying to stop what she releases. Okay done, four squares.” he said laying the cloth out on the table for Bobby.

“I’ll put the ingredients in and you can tie them with the ribbon, then they’ll be ready to be blessed.” Bobby told him as he mixed herbs and other items in a small bowl before dividing it among the four pieces of cloth. 

Dean cut the black ribbon and gathered the four corners of the swatch of cloth so he could tie it together. He repeated the process three more times and stacked them in the middle of the table to be blessed. Bobby looked through the books stacked around until he found the one he needed. He found the holy oil and thumbed through the book looking for the blessing. He sprinkled the bags with holy oil as he recited the protection spell from the book.

"Hear me and protect me.  
From the bowels of the Earth  
From the winds of the Heavens  
From the depths of the oceans  
From the cleansing of the fire  
Let not evil touch my soul.

I bind and consecrate this talisman  
That it may be a shield and protection  
Against all manners of evil power,  
Wicked spirits and vilest spells.  
By will and word  
Thy protection surround me  
It shall be so.  
Amen"

 

“Okay, that’s done. What else can we do while they rest?” Bobby asked once he was done. 

“We can check the flashlights and be sure we have enough extra batteries and load the guns with witch killing bullets.” Dean suggested as he ticked off items that were already done in his head from a list he had made. He wanted to have as much done as he could before getting the other two up. Both looked pretty banged up from their run in with the witch. If only they could have taken her down in the parking lot and put an end to all this would have made it so much easier. But the Winchester luck never let them have anything easy; they always had to work hard for whatever they got.

"Has the lass mentioned what needs to be done to stop all of this?" Bobby questioned Dean.

"Not really. We've been looking into a bunch of old legends and Indian folklore but I honestly don't know if we found what she needs or not. The Shaman gave her some type of scroll she's been brooding over, but she hasn't said if it will help. She can be closed mouth about crap."

"That she can, but she knows her stuff." 

"Yeah...Let's just hope it's enough." Dean sighed as he rubbed his tired eyes.

"Why don't ya go lay down for a bit son, I'll hold the fort down." 

"I'm fine." Dean said clearing his throat and trying to act more alert.

"Yeah and I'm Little Miss Sunshine." Bobby sneered sarcastically. “Git yer ass on over there an’ lay down.”

“Yes sir.” Dean replied recognizing the tone of his voice and decided it was better to obey than argue. He got up and shuffled over to his bed giving the other one a quick glance before sitting down on his. Sam and Lark were lying back to back both softly snoring as they slept. Dean stretched out on his bed and breathed in and out a couple of times before relaxing enough to doze off.

spn

Sam and Lark stirred when Dean shook their legs waking them up. Sam looked bleary eyed at Dean as he grunted from the soreness of his body when he sat up. Lark lay there a minute watching Sam groan and try to stretch his body wondering if she really wanted to move or not.

“Hey, time to get up.” Dean told her nudging her leg again when he saw she hadn’t moved. 

“I hear ya. Just not sure I wanna have a repeat of what Sam just went through.” Lark commented watching Sam move stiffly toward the bathroom. 

“Got some Tylenol waiting for both of ya at the table.”

“Thanks...Ohhhh....Crap! Feeling it now.” she moaned sitting up and slowly standing to her feet. “I got some cream that’ll help with the soreness.” 

“Hope ya got enough for both of ya. I think Sammy could use some too.” 

“Figured that.” Lark replied sitting her pack on the bed and digging around until she came out with a container filled with a reddish looking cream inside. “Think ya can help me put it on my shoulders?”

“Yeah, Sammy should be out in a second and then I’ll see what he needs.” Dean said accepting the container from her and looking at it for a moment then turning to the bathroom door as Sam stumbled out wiping his face. He stopped when both of them stared at him intensely. 

“What?” Sam asked looking down at his tee shirt to see if he had toothpaste on it. 

“Kid’s got something for your aches and pains, but she’s first.” Dean told him stepping toward the bathroom and waiting for him to move. “Okay Kid, step into my office.”

Lark giggled softly before walking slowly into the bathroom followed by Dean. He pushed the door partly shut and waited for Lark to take off her tee shirt. 

“I don’t think this is gonna be a pretty site.” Lark grimaced as she worked her arms from the sleeves and pulled it over her head spilling her hair out into her face. She stood with her back to him and used a towel as cover so she could remove her bra.

“Yikes!” Dean said when he saw her bruised back. It was an array of purples, greens, blacks, yellows, mostly mingled together across her middle back up to her shoulders.

“That bad?”

“No, no....It’s all good...Just hold still now.” Dean told her as he opened the container and stuck his fingers into the cream. He transferred the cream to her back and began to rub it in with small even strokes. He could feel it getting warm under his fingers as he massaged the bruises of her back. He could feel her body quiver under his touch if he pressed to hard and tried to lighten his touch so he wouldn‘t hurt her. 

“It’s okay; you can rub a little harder to get it deeper.” Lark told him as she gripped the sink.

“How’s the head?” 

“Not seeing double anymore at least.” she grimaced biting her lip as he pressed in a little harder.

Dean moved down her back rubbing the cream into her bruises. When he was finished, Lark put her clothes on and stepped to the door looking out for his brother. He saw him sitting with Bobby at the table sipping some coffee.

“Okay bro you’re next.” Dean called to him as Lark scooted past. “Get in here and let me doctor those bruises.”

“They’ll be okay.”

“Get in there Sam; you’ll need to be loose and ready for tonight.” Lark told him pulling him up and pushing him toward the door. “It’ll help, I promise you.”

“Okay, okay, I’m going.” Sam fussed slapping at Lark’s hands that were pushing him.

“C’mon Lass, I got some food from downstairs so we could eat before heading out.”

“Thanks Bobby.” she said sitting down and pulling a cup of tea her way alone with a sandwich. They both listened to the conversation coming from the bathroom and tried not to laugh.

“Hold still dude.” Dean complained from the bathroom. “I gotta get it rubbed in for it to work.”

“Okay, just a little easier.” Sam fussed back as he twitched under his brother’s care. 

“You getting soft on me bro?” Dean teased. "Hell Lark was a better patient than you and hers were  
worse."

“No I'm not.” Sam growled through gritted teeth as Dean found another tender spot. “Jerk.” he hissed.

“Bitch.” Dean whispered just loud enough for Sam to hear as he eased up slightly in his ministering.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Only one more chapter to go and our ride is over. Thank you to everyone who has come along for this journey. I do like to know your thoughts and if you have a moment please leave me one. NC

 

The four hikers slipped off the trail and headed for their destination higher up on the ridge. Lark was in the lead taking almost the same path as before while being sure the others were keeping up with no problems. Dean, Sam and Bobby were keeping a close eye out for any dangers around them. They knew the witch would probably not be here until it was closer to midnight when the powers would be building. They knew whatever she had planned had to be cast during the blood moon and it was not dark yet so they hoped to be the first there. 

“Wait.” Lark said halting their progress just before they topped the ridge. 

“What is it?” Dean asked moving to stand beside her. “You sense something?” 

“No not yet, but I need to prepare each of you for the battle.” she said slinging her pack from her shoulder and unzipping it. She pulled out several jars of white, black and red paint and handed him two of the colors so she could open the third. After looking around, she pointed to a rock that was the right size for them to sit on. “Sit here, you’ll be first.” she instructed pulling Dean to the rock and giving a small push to make his sit. 

Dean sat with a huff and frown wondering just what he was in for. He watched her closely as she opened the jar and dipped a finger in to coat it in red paint. As her finger moved toward his face Dean’s eyes grew wide and he leaned away from her with uncertainty. 

“Hold still this won’t hurt.” Lark complained when she saw his movements. “Gotta do this if we’re going to have a chance of stopping and surviving this.”

“Fine!” Dean grunted pressing his lips together in a tight line and tensing his body as she touched his face with her finger. He felt the coldness of the paint and wondered just what she was putting on his face. He looked up into her eyes seeing the determination and the unspoken warrior that she was. She had earned his respect many times over and was proud to call her family. He wiggled his face as she changed colors wondering just what was being drawn on him. After using the last color, Lark stepped back and inspected her work, being sure she had gotten the sigils right.

“Okay you’re done, Sam you’re next.” she said satisfied with Dean and looking over to Sam who was suddenly in the spotlight.

“Me?” he squeaked with trepidation after seeing what Dean looked like.

“Don’t worry Sam; yours will be different than Dean’s. It has to be.” Lark told him as Dean got up and pushed Sam toward the rock.

“Here, your turn to hold the paint.” he instructed his brother as he pressed the jars into Sam’s hands.

“I don’t mean to act dumb Lass, but what’s with the war paint?” Bobby questioned since he had a sinking feeling he was next.

“We are to be host to the four Shamans that stopped the monster before. No one being can do it.” Lark explained as she set about painting Sam’s face with sigils that were similar to Dean’s but still slightly different. 

“Had a feeling somethin’ like that was the case.” Bobby mumbled thinking hard about her answer.

“Dean! No scratching.” Lark chastised him slapping at his hand that was getting ready to scratch his face again. “You can’t mess the sigils up or it won’t work. C’mere you smeared one.” 

Dean jumped like a kid caught trying to sneak an extra cookie and looked guiltily at her as he stepped closer allowing her to repair the paint on his cheek where he scratched because it was itching as it dried. 

“The leather cloth the Shaman gave me is the spell to call forth the ancestors of the tribes to do battle against the evil one. When we get to the mesa we each need to take a compass point around the cursed ground, but we need to wait until the witch is in the middle and ready to do her spell. The gris-gris bags should protect us from her and with the necklace he gave me I should be able to call the spirits forth.” Lark said as she worked quickly to finish Sam’s face so she could start on Bobby. “There, now no scratching, both of you understand? If you mess them up the spell won't work and we're screwed.”

“Yes ma’am.” Dean and Sam said together as they studied each other’s faces. 

“Bobby, your turn.” 

“Okay Lass.” he replied taking Sam’s spot and accepting the jars from him. 

It took Lark fifteen minutes to finish Bobby and pulled a mirror from her pack to do her own face. Bobby held the mirror for her as she began to apply the last set of sigils to her own face being sure she copied them exactly. The sun had almost sunk behind the trees and the light was fading when she gave each of them one final look before putting away the paints and mirror. Before they continued to the top, Lark removed the necklace and draped it around her neck and let it rest on her skin. She frowned for a moment as the necklace seemed to grow warm for a moment then grow cool. Knowing they needed to move on to the top and get in position, Lark took out a flashlight and began to pick the way among the boulders leading the group to the top and to a battle she prayed they would win.

spn

The four hunters moved silently to the mesa, ever aware of their surroundings. The air was still and quiet. Not even the insects were voicing their songs into the darkness. It was as if human and animal alike knew what was at stake tonight, even the air was still and heavy with a charge of electricity that made their skin tingle. Lark stopped just shy of the cursed ground before speaking softly.

“I will call forth the spirits of the Shamans now. They will channel through us to keep the demon trapped where he belongs and stop the witch. Once they possess us, we need to hide in the shadows until the witch comes and starts her spell.” Lark said looking around at the men to be sure they understood what they were to do. 

She pulled a bronze bowl from her pack and dumped a bag of measured ingredients into it and added holy oil. Lark took a small knife and nicked her finger allowing blood to drip into the bowl. She passed the knife to Sam to do the same while she held the bowl. Sam winced slightly as he did the same watching his blood mingle with hers. Lark moved to Dean and Sam handed him the knife. Dean didn’t hesitate as he made a cut and squeezed his finger enough to add his blood. Bobby was the last to contribute and handed the knife back to Lark. Once this was done, Lark raised the bowl to the four compass points before sitting it on the ground between them. She lit a match and dropped it into the bowl and began the chant in Spanish.

de la antigüedad, escucha mi voz  
Rezo para que salgas  
Deja que la tierra me mueva  
Deja que el fuego me consuma  
Deja que el agua me apague  
Deja que el viento me toque  
Norte sur este Oeste  
Acepta nuestros cuerpos como si fueran tuyos  
Prepáranos para la batalla  
Haznos los guerreros que se necesitan  
Ven y reclamarnos  
Escucha mi voz Abuelos  
Escucha mi voz Abuelos!  
Te abrimos nuestras mentes y almas  
Ven adelante, ven adelante,  
Ven, ven adelante”

(translation)

“To the ancestors of old, hear my voice  
I pray for thee to come forth  
Let the Earth ground me  
Let the Fire consume me  
Let the Water quench me  
Let the Wind touch me  
North, South, East, West  
Accept our bodies as thy own  
Prepare us for battle  
Make us the warriors that are needed  
Come forth and claim us  
Hear my voice Grandfathers   
Hear my voice Grandfathers!  
We open our minds and souls to you  
Come forth, Come forth,   
Come forth, Come forth”

Flames sputtered and rose from the bowl in a brilliant, blinding display that had them all seeing spots before their eyes. Blue swirling smoke rose from the bowl to surround them as four shimmering disturbances in the air behind each of them stared to take a ghostly shape before slowly moving into the host bodies of the hunters. The brothers stared at Lark as the necklace she was wearing seemed to suddenly glow and looked like it was getting hot where it lay on her skin. Lark didn't seem to notice the transformation happening to the necklace as she concentrated on the Shamans that were about to possess them. They all stiffened and hissed as in the blink of an eye the Shamans came forward and stepped into their bodies. The sigils glowed softly for a moment as they looked at each other without speaking. 

The Shamans looked through the eyes of the hunters and with a nod of heads; they faded into the shadows around the prison they had created to wait for the witch. The hunters were still awake and aware in their bodies, each trying to relax and stay calm about all this. Being hunters, they weren't keen on being possessed, but given the circumstances, there was no other option. They could feel the power that radiated within them and memories from the past flashed through their minds and they saw the first time the Shamans came together to rid their land of the monster that looked like a warrior. Surprisingly, the hunters could see in the dark and had no use for any other light. It was like all their senses were supercharged and ready for battle. They waited patiently for the witch to show.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Thank you so much for everyone who took this journey with me. I am sad to see this end. Any comments are great. Until next time, keep reading.... NC 

 

A rose colored full moon rose into the night sky over the mesa casting the land below in an eerie, freakish light. The four possessed hunters stood like statues as they listened and watched for any one who might be heading their way. Nearly an hour had passed before snapping twigs and movement was heard nearby. A few minutes later a woman appeared in the shadows, pausing and looking around before continuing on to the center of the cursed ground. She had a shawl over her head and her features couldn't be made out by the moon's light. She began to pull items from a pack she was carrying and sitting them on the ground in front of her. She looked up at the moon to judge its position before turning back to her task. 

None of the hunters doubted that she was the witch they had been waiting for. They patiently waited for her to begin the spell so they could intervene and stop her. The witch placed black candles around her in a circle and lit each one as she mumbled an incantation. She stood and pushed back the shawl revealing a thick head of deep red, curly hair. She grabbed a hand of herbs and other ingredients and tossed them in the air before calling out in Latin for the spirits to join her there. She paused and waited looking around until a number of billowing smoky apparitions started to appear around of her, hovering just out of her reach. 

“Good, now you’re going to help me change the world. After I take your powers I will be strong enough to raise my partner and we will rule the world.” she said proudly as she waved her hand to hold the spirits in place. The spirits began to struggle, trying to break free but could not move.

The red headed witch stood in the center of the candles and started to speak loudly but faltered as the hunters possessed by the Shamans stepped from their hiding spots to stand at the compass points, boldly staring her down. 

"What is this?" she hissed turning slowly around to stare at the three men and one woman who dared defy her. "You're not welcome here so I would suggest you leave or suffer my wrath."

None of the hunters answered her as they began to chant in Apache in a sing-song voice ignoring the witch's screaming and threats. She tried to throw a deadly spell at Lark, but it had no effect. The voices of the Shamans grew louder and stronger drowning out the witch's voice as she quickly started to work on her spell to raise the demon. Before she was halfway through the spell, warriors of the Apache tribes began to appear around the circle strengthening the Shamans’ powers. 

The witch started screaming insults and cussing the hunters as she tried to use other spells to break from the circle. Smoke rose thickly from the burning candles and floated just above the ground making it look like fog was rolling into the circle. It wove and threaded back and forth like it had a life of its own as the witch cast countless herbs and spices into the candles sputtering flames hoping she could gain the upper hand and complete her spell. Fear and double played across her face as she screeched for the demon imprisoned in this place to help her.

Clouds began to fill the night sky and move across the blood moon, shifting the land from dark to light as the wind blew the clouds randomly through the sky. Lark stepped slightly forward and with the staff that suddenly appeared in her hand slammed it down into the ground making the earth beneath their feet began to tremble and shake. She raised her hands to the Heavens as bright streaks of lightening danced across the ebony sky and seemed to zero in on the staff in Lark’s raised hand. Lark beat the staff down again into the circle as hard as she could while calling out in a strong, loud voice to be rid of the witch. Without warning the earth starting cracking open under the witch’s feet and she tumbled into it screaming and flaying and with another strike the crack closed up and the swirling dust clouds began to settle down as the flames of the candles slowly one by one went out. 

The approaching storm seemed to dwindle out leaving only the eerie glow of the blood moon to light the mesa. Sudden quietness filled the area around them and the heaviness of the air dissipated. The only sound emitting from there was the soft tapping of drums that was caught upon the breeze to be blown away to the Heavens. The spirits the witch had trapped here on Earth were freed to return from where they came and without hesitation disappeared into the night. The Apache warriors that had surrounded the hunters slowly faded away into the night. The four Shamans stepped from the cursed ground and prison of the demon to face each other knowing their work was done. They had once again trapped the demon, stopping it from destroying the world.

“We are grateful for your help spirit woman.” the Shaman in Dean said to Lark. “We must leave now that our work is done.” he continued and the spirits of the Shamans expelled themselves from the hunters and vanished into the night.

The four hunters wobbled unsteadily on their feet as their bodies were returned to them. 

“Damn, that was intense.” Dean groaned as he blinked rapidly to dispel his double vision. “Someone wanna stop this merry go round?”

“I’d say.” Sam mumbled leaning over with his hands on his knees trying to keep from throwing up as bile rose in his throat.

“You okay Bobby?” Lark asked hoarsely as she reached for Dean for support to keep from falling as the world turned sideways.

“Yeah Lass, just give me a minute.” Bobby replied coughing several times as he drew in several deep breaths.

“After we catch our breath, we should head back.” Lark said once she cleared her throat. She took off the necklace and stowed it back in her pack.

“If you’ll stop the world from spinning I’ll be fine.” Sam choked before he stumbled to the side and threw up, coughing and choking. 

“I got ya bro.” Dean mumbled laying a comforting hand on his brother’s neck and massaging it gently.

“Here.” Lark offered pulling a bottle of water from her pack. 

“Thanks Kid.” Dean said accepting the water and opening it before holding it out to his brother.

“Mmmm...” Sam gurgled spitting the last of the bile from his mouth and fumbling the bottle from Dean. He filled his mouth and swished it around, then spit it out before sipping some letting it sooth his throat. 

“You okay Sammy?”

“Yeah, I’m good.” Sam answered straightening back up and drawing in a slow breath then letting it out.

“Everyone ready?” Bobby asked eyeing the others to see how they were doing. 

“We’re gonna need to use flashlights to get out of here without breaking something.” Lark commented pulling hers out and turning it on.

“Alright, if you three are ready...” Bobby stated pulling his light out too.

“Yeah, Yes and Absolutely” were thrown at him before from the others, then Lark took the lead and headed away from the still intact prison. No one spoke as they carefully made their way back down to the trail where the going was easier so they made good time back to the Impala. Bobby and Lark climbed in the back and Dean and Sam in the front. Dean cranked his Baby and pulled out to head back to the hotel. He pulled slowly into the parking lot and parked, but no one got out at first as they all sat there a little shell shocked over what just happened. Finally it was Lark who broke the silence.

“Bobby you can have my room and I’ll bunk with the guys.” Lark spoke softly as she held out her key to her room. 

“I can see if they have one available.” Bobby replied.

“No need wasting the money, I can sleep on the couch, it’ll be fine. Besides, I don’t think they have any rooms.” she said looking at the sign blinking ‘No Vacancy’. “I insist.”

“Guess we should go in.” Sam mumbled opening the door and slowly getting out feeling like his body had been used as a boxing bag. 

“Yeah, I could use some sleep I guess.” Dean commented too opening his door to follow his brother.

“C’mon Lass we all could use a little rest.” 

The four hunters made their way inside and up to the second floor to their rooms. The night desk person gave them a brief glance and went back to reading his book with no idea of what just happened tonight nor did he know they had saved the world.

spn

“Let me get my things.” Lark told him once the door was open.

“I’ll say my good-byes now.” Bobby told the brothers. “I’m getting up to catch an early flight back to Sioux Falls and I expect you three will be sleeping in.” 

“Maybe.” Dean shrugged.

“We need to return the necklace and scroll to the Shaman.” Lark interjected. “And thank him. We couldn’t of done this without his help.” 

“Bye Bobby.” Sam said giving the man a hug.

“You boys heading my way any time soon?” 

“Not sure. We’ll see.” Dean answered.

“Well don’t be strangers.” 

“We won’t, I’m sure we’ll be seeing you soon.”

“Bye Bobby thanks for the help.” Lark told him embracing him in a hug. “Go ahead and turn my room in when you leave. Figure I’ll be heading out sometime tomorrow anyway.”

“Any time Lass, you take care of yerself and stay in touch, ya hear me? I‘ll take care of the room.”

“I will Bobby, I will.” she assured him kissing him on his cheek.

“You three get some rest and kiddies....You did good today.” Bobby praised them before closing the door to the room.

spn

“Take the bathroom first Kid.” Dean told Lark once they were inside. He took the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign and hung it on the door knob deciding they all needed to be lazy and sleep in.

“Thanks.” she whispered sitting her bag down and pulling out her bathroom bag and a pair of sweats. “I won’t be long.”

“It’s good, take your time.” 

“Man, I feel like I could sleep for a week.” Sam sighed as he dropped onto his bed and shucked his boots. 

“Guess being used as a puppet by Indian Shamans can take a lot out of you.” Dean agreed sitting on the other bed to wait for his turn in the bathroom.

Lark stepped from the bathroom ten minutes later pushing a few strands of wet hair from her face. She dropped her bag and dirty clothes into her duffle and looked absently around for an extra blanket and pillow.

“No use you sleeping on the couch, you can sleep with me.” Dean told her before stepping into the bathroom for his turn. 

“I don’t mind...” she started but was stopped by Sam interrupting her.

“It’s okay, if he didn’t offer I was going to. It’ll be more comfortable.” Sam said looking over at her and seeing how tired she looked. 

“Okay.” Lark mumbled turning down the bed and slipping in to move to the far side of the bed leaving plenty of room for Dean. 

“Your turn bro.” Dean called to his brother as he dropped his dirty clothes and strolled to the bed. He saw Lark had taken his offer and slipped under the covers beside her. He could feel a slight tremble coming from her and looked at her. “Hey you okay?” 

“I-I....I could feel it.” she said turning where she could see him. 

“The demon?” Dean asked softly.

“Yes, it was trying to get into my mind and man...It emitted so much evil....” 

“Don’t think ‘bout it. It’s over now, just try and get some rest.” he whispered seeing the pain in her eyes. 

“Do you mind if I...Move closer I feel...Feel so cold.” 

“Curl into my back.” he told her as he rolled to his side and felt her body move closer to him and snuggle into his back. He could feel a coolness seep through his clothes and made sure she was covered good. Lark’s arm crept over his side and he grasped her cold hand in his and rubbed it to get some warmth into it. He could feel her relaxing and her breathing even out as she drifted to sleep. He watched his brother come out of bathroom and tracked him with his eyes until he plopped onto his bed and buried under the covers with a soft sigh. 

“Nite Dee.” Sam whispered as he let his body relax into the mattress and the much needed sleep overtook him. 

spn

Dean drew in a deep breath and tried to open his sleep heavy eyes when he felt movement beside him. He felt a small body crawl over him and tried to say something but his mouth was dry and he only got a grunt out. 

“Ba’r’m.” a soft voice whispered as her weight went across Dean and disappeared. It wasn’t but a few minutes later that she crawled back over Dean and settled back down beside him. 

As the weight crossed back over his body, Dean shifted and pulled her to him and settled back down to sleep some more. Lark was still too sleepy to object to Dean holding her so close and just went with it. She tried to push back the memories of last night not wanting them to invade her dreams. They slept on for another three hours until both started waking up and pulled apart to lay there for a few minutes trying to wake up.

“What time is it?” Lark asked suppressing a yawn and wiping sleep from her eyes. 

Dean looked over at the digital clock on the nightstand and blinked his eyes rapidly to clear his vision. 

“Damn...” he croaked and cleared his throat before continuing. “Almost one.” 

“In the afternoon?” she asked a little surprised they had slept that long. 

“Yeah, guess we need to get up.” 

“I am kind of hungry.” she said sitting up in the bed and looking over at Sam. 

“Me too. Hey you alive over there?” Dean called to his brother as he sat up and swung his legs to the side of the bed and waited for the dizziness to pass.

“Mmmm..Wh’?” Sam slurred as he opened his eyes and looked around trying to remember where he was. 

“Time to get up bro.” 

“’k, gimme a sec.” Sam groaned wiping sleep from his face as he looked around. 

“Let‘s get showers and we‘ll grab something on the way to see the Shaman.” Dean told him. “Why don’t ya go first Kid?”

“Mmm...‘k.” she mumbled getting up and grabbing clothes before going into the bathroom.

spn

Sam lay in his bed and Dean sat on the side of his waiting for their turn in the bathroom. They could hear singing from the bathroom as Lark quickly took her shower. Dean reached over and grabbed the remote to switch on the television to try and catch some weather. Sam finally broke the silence between them.

“What are we gonna do now?” Sam questioned Dean.

“Guess head toward Bobby’s and check to see if there’s any cases along the way.” he shrugged getting up and looking in his bag for clean clothes. 

“Wonder what Lark’s gonna do now?”

“Probably the same thing, look for another job.” 

“You know we worked pretty good together.”

“We did.” Dean agreed. “You’re next for the shower so make it a short one bro.” 

“Hey! I alwa...” Sam started but was cut short by Dean.

“Cool it dude, you’re worse than a woman.” Dean chastised him looking to the bathroom where Lark had stepped out. 

“Who’s next?”

“Me.” Sam said getting up and stretching before digging out some clothes and heading into the bathroom. 

“So what’s next for you?” Dean asked Lark watching her finger comb her damp hair. 

“Look for another job I guess. How ‘bout you guys?” 

“Same. Figured we’d head for Bobby’s and see if there’s anything along the way.”

“Sounds good. Well you have my number if you need extra backup.”

“And you have ours, so don't hesitate to call if you need us.” 

“Thanks, I’ll do that. It was good working with you guys.” she said as she packed her bag and gathered up notes and her laptop. 

“Same here. You know if you ever wanna just talk or something you can call me.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. I’m gonna take my things on down to the truck.”

“Alright, if I can get Samantha out of the bathroom I shouldn’t be long and we can leave.”

“Okay.” she giggled and nodded grabbing her bags and heading out.

spn

“So I guess this is good-bye for now.” Lark said standing by the Impala in the gas station parking lot and looking over at the brothers. “It was a blast, but I don't think I want to do it again anytime soon.” 

“You know you could come with us.” Sam offered cautiously. 

“Awe thanks Sam, but ya know I like working alone.” she said smiling at him before stepping into his hug. 

“It was a thought.” he whispered in her ear hugging her tight and then letting go. 

“You take care Kid. I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again in the near future.” Dean told her letting her step to him to offer a hug. 

“I’m sure of it.” she replied softly blinking back the tears before stepping away.

“Keep in touch at least.” Sam offered.

“I will. Now you guys watch your backs and stay safe or you’ll have to answer to me.” she said sternly. 

“Yes ma’am.” they said together giving her warm smiles and waves as she got in her truck to leave. She waved back to them and pulled from the parking lot to head out.

“Guess it’s our turn.” Dean said turning to get in the driver’s seat and waited for Sam to walk around the car and get in. 

“I’m ready.” Sam nodded as he settled in the passenger seat.

“Let’s go kick some ass and raise a little hell.” Dean smirked cranking the Impala and pulling out onto the road that led out of town and to their next hunt. The brothers both wondered what next event would lead to them seeing Lark again.

THE END

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [THAT SCENE](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18215153) by [Deans_Girl1968](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deans_Girl1968/pseuds/Deans_Girl1968)




End file.
